Trial reportAutism : the international journal of research and practice2017
Changes in anxiety following a randomized control trial of a theatre-based intervention for youth with autism spectrum disorder.
Trial report in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of game-based interventions on children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- The relationshipbetween anxiety and social outcomes in autistic children and adolescents: A meta-analysis.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2023Pooled it
- Improving Social Knowledge and Skills among Adolescents with Autism: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of UCLA PEERS® for Adolescents.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Creative Movement Therapies on Social Communication, Behavioral-Affective, Sensorimotor, Cognitive, and Functional Participation Skills of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Investigating Social Competence in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of a Theatre-Based Intervention Enhanced for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Trial
- Peers, play, and performance to build social salience in autistic youth: A multisite randomized clinical trial.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2023Trial
- A huggable device can reduce the stress of calling an unfamiliar person on the phone for individuals with ASD.PloS one · 2021Trial
- Social Novelty Recruits a Dysfunctional Nucleus Accumbens Ensemble That Drives Social Avoidance in abioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Scoping Review of the Impact of Theatre-Based Techniques in Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- From risk to resilience: a narrative overview of modifiable factors influencing anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorder (part II).Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Social Context in Stress and Autism: Comparing Physiological Profiles Across Two Social Paradigms in Youth with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder.Research in autism spectrum disorders · 2024Article
- Scoping Review on Play-Based Interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Art Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review.The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association · 2022Article
- Article
- Interaction in acting training and its different manifestations in novice and professional actors.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Evidence for decreased parasympathetic response to a novel peer interaction in older children with autism spectrum disorder: a case-control study.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2021Article
- Digital Fabrication and Theater: Developing Social Skills in Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Exploring Key Physiological System Profiles at Rest and the Association with Depressive Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Article
- Cross-Cultural Adaptation to Australia of the KONTAKT© Social Skills Group Training Program for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Feasibility Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Increased anxiety and stress are frequently found in children with autism spectrum disorder and are associated with social challenges. Recently, we reported changes in social competence following peer-mediated, theatre-based intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the intervention on reducing anxiety and stress. Participants included 30 youth with autism spectrum disorder (8-14 years old) randomly assigned to the experimental (17) or waitlist control (13) group. Pretest adjusted, between-group differences were analyzed for state-anxiety, trait-anxiety, play-based cortisol, and diurnal cortisol. Pearson correlations were conducted between anxiety, cortisol, and group play. Significant pretest-adjusted between-group differences at posttest were observed on trait-anxiety (F(1, 27) = 9.16, p = 0.005) but not state-anxiety (F(1, 27) = 0.03, p = 0.86), showing lower trait-anxiety in the experimental group. There were no between-group differences on cortisol. There was a significant negative correlation between group play and trait-anxiety (r = -0.362, p = 0.05). Playground cortisol correlated with group play, for the experimental group (r = 0.55, p = 0.03). The theatre-based, peer-mediated intervention not only contributes to improvement in social competence in youth with autism spectrum disorder but also contributes to reductions in trait-anxiety associated with more social interaction with peers. Results suggest that some degree of physiological arousal is essential for social interaction.
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Registered trials
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