New Findings from Griffith University in the Area of Autism Reported (Non-pharmacological Interventions for Autistic Children: an Umbrella Review): Developmental Diseases and Conditions – Autism

2022 OCT 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Pediatrics Daily News -- Data detailed on Developmental Diseases and Conditions - Autism have been presented. According to news reporting from Southport, Australia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The breadth of available non-pharmacological interventions for autistic children, with varying evidence for efficacy summarised in multiple systematic reviews, creates challenges for parents, practitioners, and policymakers in navigating the research evidence. In this article, we report the findings of an umbrella review of 58 systematic reviews of non-pharmacological interventions for autistic children (aged 0-12 years).”

Financial support for this research came from Australian Government National Disability Insurance Agency.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Griffith University, “Positive therapeutic effects were identified for Behavioural interventions, Developmental interventions, Naturalistic Developmental Behavioural Interventions, Technology-based interventions, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy across several child and family outcomes. Positive effects for certain practices within Sensory-based interventions and ‘other’ interventions were limited to select child and family outcomes. Both inconsistent and null intervention effects were found for Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication-handicapped Children, and Animal-assisted interventions across outcomes. The possible influence of child (chronological age, core autism characteristics, and related skills) and delivery (agent, mode, format, and amount) characteristics on intervention effects was rarely examined, and inconsistent where reported. Twenty-seven systematic reviews (47%) were rated as ‘high’ quality. Few systematic reviews examined children’s participation and quality of life or adverse effects. The findings highlight the need for individualised evidence-based decision-making when selecting interventions for autistic children. Lay abstract What is already known about the topic? The delivery of evidence-based interventions is an important part of the clinical pathway for many autistic children and their families. However, parents, practitioners, and policymakers face challenges making evidence informed decisions, due to the wide variety of interventions available and the large, and often inconsistent, body of evidence regarding their effectiveness. What this paper adds? This is a comprehensive umbrella review, also known as a ‘review of reviews’, which examined the range of interventions available, the evidence for their effectiveness, and whether effects were influenced by factors relating to individual children (e.g. chronological age, core autism characteristics, and related skills) or the ways interventions were delivered (by whom and in what setting, format, mode, and amount). There was evidence for positive therapeutic effects for some, but not all, interventions. No single intervention had a positive effect for all child and family outcomes of interest. The influence of child and delivery characteristics on effects was unclear. Implications for practice, research, and policy The findings provide parents, practitioners, and policymakers with a synthesis of the research evidence to inform decision-making and highlight the importance of individualised approaches in the absence of clear and consistent evidence.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The findings also highlight the need to improve consistency and completeness in reporting of research studies, so that the same questions may be answered more comprehensively in the future.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Non-pharmacological Interventions for Autistic Children: an Umbrella Review. Autism, 2022. Autism can be contacted at: Sage Publications Ltd, 1 Olivers Yard, 55 City Road, London EC1Y 1SP, England.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting David Trembath, Griffith University, Parklands Dr, Southport, Qld 4215, Australia. Additional authors for this research include Kandice Varcin, Rhylee Sulek, Jacqueline Roberts, Hannah Waddington, Cathy Bent, Kristelle Hudry, Jill Ashburner, Valsamma Eapen, Emma Goodall, Natalie Silove and Andrew Whitehouse.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221119368. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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