An experimental study on the intervention effects of group relay swimming training on social interaction deficits in...

Interventions addressing physical functioning and social generalization together remain scarce for adolescents with autism. This study developed the Aquatic Relay Social Coupling Window (ARSCW) model, which treats the instant of relay handoff as the smallest tolerable unit of social dosage and integrates sensory filtering by the aquatic medium, mandatory temporal coupling imposed by the relay format, and emotionally neutral collaboration driven by competitive goals. A 2 (training mode: group relay vs. traditional group swimming) × 3 (pairing strategy: two participants with autism, participants with autism paired with typically developing peers, and mixed teams) factorial randomized controlled design was adopted. A total of 224 adolescents with autism aged 12 to 17 years were randomized, 192 to the six factorial cells at 32 per cell and 32 to a wait list control group outside the factorial structure; 64 typically developing adolescents served as training partners only and provided no outcome data. Intervention and follow up each lasted 12 weeks, with a T2 retention rate of 88.4%. Underwater multi-person pose estimation yielded the Kuramoto order parameter and the window level index W _ARSCW, its integral over the 15 s coupling window, expressed in seconds and computed under both training modes from structurally matched windows, combined with the Relay Handoff Social Coding system (RHSC), autonomic coupling and a self reported rating of peer rapport. Training mode showed a significant main effect and pairing strategy a significant moderating effect (p = 0.018); each relay cell separated from the wait list control group after correction while no traditional cell did. The increase in W _ARSCW mediated 51.7% of the total effect. Peer rapport followed the reverse ordering and was highest in two-autism pairings, so the objective and subjective dimensions dissociated. Social abilities generalized to physically embodied contexts, d from 0.39 to 0.68, whereas online effects were limited. The study provides empirical evidence and operational tools for adapted physical education curricula and team organization.