Department of Psychological Science, School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, 4201 SBSG, Irvine, CA, 92697-7085, USA.
Department of Psychology, College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral & Social Sciences, California State University San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, CA, 92096, USA.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 Sep;49(9):3669-3684. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-04072-3.
The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a mixed martial arts (MMA) intervention in improving executive functions (EFs) in a sample with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). School-aged children with ASD were randomly assigned to a MMA intervention group or a waitlist control (WLC) group. The intervention featured a 26-class program over a 13-week period; the WLC group did not participate in any martial arts between pre- and post-test. Results indicated that the MMA group had significantly better EFs at post-test compared to the WLC group. The intervention appeared to be efficacious in meeting its goals of improving the executive functioning of children with ASD. The present study extends the current literature on the malleability of EFs among children with ASD.
本研究评估了混合武术(MMA)干预在改善自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)样本中的执行功能(EF)的有效性。患有 ASD 的学龄儿童被随机分配到 MMA 干预组或候补名单对照组(WLC)。该干预措施包括在 13 周内进行 26 节课程;WLC 组在前后测试之间不参加任何武术课程。结果表明,与 WLC 组相比,MMA 组在测试后具有显著更好的执行功能。该干预措施似乎在提高 ASD 儿童的执行功能方面非常有效。本研究扩展了关于 ASD 儿童 EF 的可塑造性的现有文献。