New Study Suggests Higher Amounts of Intervention May Not Be More Helpful for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Research led by Micheal Sandbank, PhD, at the UNC School of Medicine and other researchers across the United States has found that evidence is lacking that higher intensity interventions provide increased benefits for young autistic children. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, used data from 144 early childhood intervention studies involving 9,038 children between the ages of 0 to 8, and found that intervention outcomes did not improve as intervention intensity increased.

Key Takeaways:

• The study found that there was no rigorous evidence supporting the notion that increasing the amount of intervention produces better intervention outcomes.
• The researchers concluded that clinicians should consider what amount of intervention would be developmentally appropriate for the child and supportive to the family.
• The most commonly recommended approach for autistic children in the United States is called "Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention," or EIBI.
• EIBI involves 40 hours of behavioral intervention per week, but many subsequent studies have provided mixed results and are lacking in quality.
• The researchers found that many low-quality studies are dominating the field, and few studies have adequately examined whether interventions can have adverse effects or harms.
• Interventions requiring young children to be away from home for long durations of time can deprive them of critical rest, socialization with family members, and more.
• The study suggests that clinicians should avoid providing any specific amount of intervention as a default recommendation.
• Instead, clinicians should inform families that no single intervention amount is right for every child, and that a careful balance must be struck to meet the demands of intervention with other needs of the child.

Statistics:

• 144 early childhood intervention studies were included in the meta-analysis.
• 9,038 children between the ages of 0 to 8 were involved in the studies.
• 40 hours of behavioral intervention per week is the recommended amount of EIBI.
• The study found that intervention outcomes did not improve as intervention intensity increased.
• The researchers found no evidence that higher intensity interventions provided increased benefits for young autistic children.
• The study suggests that clinicians should consider the developmental appropriateness of the intervention amount for each child.

Sources:

• JAMA Pediatrics https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2819784
• news.unchealthcare.org/2024/06/new-study-suggests-higher-amounts-of-intervention-may-not-be-more-helpful-for-children-on-the-autism-spectrum/