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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review
Xinyuan Wang1, Jinzhu Zhao1, Shan Huang
1Contributed equally as co-first authors.
Pediatrics
|April 23, 2021
Summary
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) shows promise for improving autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms in children and adolescents, particularly when assessed by informants or clinicians. However, effects on social-emotional problems are not consistently significant across all measures.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) present complex challenges in children and adolescents.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is frequently studied for ASD symptom management.
- Previous research shows inconsistent effectiveness of CBT for ASD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To meta-analytically evaluate CBT's effectiveness on ASD symptoms and social-emotional problems in pediatric populations.
- To synthesize findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to clarify CBT's impact.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library up to May 2019.
- Inclusion of 45 RCTs and 6 quasi-RCTs involving 2485 children and adolescents with ASDs.
- Data extraction on study characteristics, interventions, and outcomes; meta-analysis performed.
Main Results:
- CBT did not significantly improve ASD symptoms based on self-reported outcomes (SMD: -0.09; P = .593).
- Significant improvements in ASD symptoms were observed with informant-reported, clinician-rated, and task-based outcomes.
- CBT showed no significant effect on social-emotional problems based on self-reported outcomes.
Conclusions:
- CBT may offer significant benefits for core ASD symptoms when assessed through specific outcome measures.
- Findings suggest CBT's potential utility in addressing certain aspects of ASD and related social-emotional challenges.
- Further research is needed due to study limitations including low-to-modest quality and heterogeneity.
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