Afsharnejad Bahareh, Whitehorne Smith Patrice, Bölte Sven, Milbourn Ben, Girdler Sonya
Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG), Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Curtin University, The School of Population Health, Perth, Australia.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Dec 17. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06657-z.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify and evaluate the quality of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), assessing the efficacy of Social Skills Group Programs (SSGPs) for primary and secondary school aged autistic children and adolescents exploring the influence of informant, setting characteristics and teaching strategies as moderating factors for social outcomes. A search of the electronic databases of Medline, ProQuest, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Sciences electronic databases was conducted for the period January 1, 2013 until December 31, 2023 for peer-reviewed RCT studies published in English, evaluating the efficacy of SSGPs for school-aged autistic children and adolescents (6-18 years). Included studies were assessed for methodological quality and efficacy using random effect meta-analysis. Informant analysis and moderator analyses were also conducted investigating the influence of informant, setting characteristics and teaching strategy utilised in the SSGPs on the participants social outcomes. Sixty-five studies were included in the systematic review with 49 studies included in the meta-analysis. Although most studies had strong or good methodological quality, a high possibility of publication bias was detected in the meta-analysis. After statistical adjustments for publication bias were made, findings revealed that SSGPs had no effect on the overall outcomes assessed by included studies on school-aged autistic children and adolescents. However, informant analysis revealed small effects reported by self-report, parent-proxy and researchers. Teaching strategies and setting characteristics were not significant moderators for the efficacy of SSGPs on the social outcomes of autistic children and adolescents. This review highlights the need for improvements in measurement frameworks for assessing social skills in autistic children and adolescents.
本系统评价和荟萃分析旨在识别和评估随机对照试验（RCT）的质量，评估社交技能小组项目（SSGPs）对小学和中学阶段自闭症儿童及青少年的疗效，并探讨信息提供者、环境特征和教学策略作为社会结果调节因素的影响。检索了Medline、ProQuest、CINAHL、Scopus和Web of Sciences电子数据库，搜索时间为2013年1月1日至2023年12月31日，以查找用英文发表的同行评审RCT研究，评估SSGPs对学龄自闭症儿童及青少年（6至18岁）的疗效。使用随机效应荟萃分析对纳入研究的方法学质量和疗效进行评估。还进行了信息提供者分析和调节因素分析，以调查SSGPs中使用的信息提供者、环境特征和教学策略对参与者社会结果的影响。系统评价纳入了65项研究，荟萃分析纳入了49项研究。尽管大多数研究具有较强或良好的方法学质量，但在荟萃分析中检测到存在较高的发表偏倚可能性。在对发表偏倚进行统计调整后，研究结果显示，SSGPs对纳入研究中评估的学龄自闭症儿童及青少年的总体结果没有影响。然而，信息提供者分析显示，自我报告、家长代理报告和研究人员报告的影响较小。教学策略和环境特征不是SSGPs对自闭症儿童及青少年社会结果疗效的显著调节因素。本综述强调了改进自闭症儿童及青少年社交技能评估测量框架的必要性。
