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Published on: April 22, 2015
Measuring the association between behavioural services and outcomes in young children with autism spectrum disorder
Kate Tsiplova1, Wendy J Ungar2, Peter Szatmari3
1Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, 11th floor, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada.
Insights
Early behavioral services for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) did not significantly impact later childhood outcomes. This study highlights challenges in assessing early intervention effectiveness in diverse ASD populations.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Neurology
- Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
Background:
- Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) access a variety of support services.
- Understanding the long-term impact of early interventions is crucial for effective ASD support.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between behavioral services received by young children (ages 2-5) with ASD and their outcomes in primary school.
- To determine if early behavioral interventions influence adaptive behavior and behavioral problems later in childhood.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 414 preschool-aged children diagnosed with ASD across five Canadian sites.
- Assessment points included diagnosis, 6 months, 12 months, school entry, and annually until age 11.
- Linear regression models analyzed the association between early behavioral service receipt (T1-T3) and outcomes at T8, adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in T8 outcomes (adaptive behavior, behavioral problems) was observed between children who received behavioral services and those who did not.
- The timing and duration of early behavioral service receipt did not correlate with improved long-term outcomes in this cohort.
Conclusions:
- Preschool behavioral services did not demonstrate a significant effect on outcomes in later childhood for children with ASD.
- Studying early intervention effectiveness in heterogeneous ASD samples presents considerable challenges.
- Recommendations for future research design in ASD intervention studies are provided.
Background:
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) receive a wide range of services.
Aims:
To examine the association between behavioural services received by children with ASD between ages 2 and 5 years and outcomes during primary school years.
Methods:
A total of 414 preschool-aged children diagnosed with ASD were enrolled at five Canadian sites and were assessed within four months of diagnosis (T1), six months later (T2), 12 months later (T3), at school entry (T4), and then annually (T5-T8) to 11 years of age. The association between the receipt of behavioural services during T1 to T3 and T8 outcomes related to adaptive behaviour and behavioural problems was modelled using linear regressions adjusted for immigrant status, family income, child's age at diagnosis, site, sex assigned at birth, and baseline (T1) outcome.
Results:
Children who received behavioural services during at least one time period from T1 to T3 did not have significantly different outcomes at T8 than children who did not receive any behavioural services.
Implications:
Pre-school use of behavioural services was not found to affect outcomes during later childhood. Numerous challenges accompany studies of the association between pre-school service use and later outcomes in a heterogeneous ASD sample. Recommendations for study design are provided.
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