Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32384865›Full record

SynthesisJournal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR2020

Intervention Effects on Language in Children With Autism: A Project AIM Meta-Analysis.

Micheal Sandbank, Kristen Bottema-Beutel, Shannon Crowley, Margaret Cassidy, Jacob I Feldman, Marcos Canihuante, Tiffany Woynaroski

Open access · greenAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
48citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
6.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

48 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.

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  9. Understanding the Effects of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: A Project AIM Meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2021
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Micheal SandbankSpecial Education Department, The University of Texas at Austin.
Kristen Bottema-BeutelLynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, MA.
Shannon CrowleyLynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, MA.
Margaret CassidyCollege of Arts and Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Jacob I FeldmanDepartment of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Marcos CanihuanteSpecial Education Department, The University of Texas at Austin.
Tiffany WoynaroskiDepartment of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Nashville, TN.
Boston College · USThe University of Texas at Austin · USVanderbilt University · USVanderbilt University Medical Center · US

Funding

Research Project: Sensory and Multisensory Contributions to AutismU54HD083211 · NICHD · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI HARRELL, FRANK E. · 2015 to 2019
$7.1M
Sensory Project in Infant/Toddler Siblings of Children with Autism (Project SPIS)R21DC016144 · NIDCD · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI WOYNAROSKI, TIFFANY · 2017 to 2019
$474k
NICHD NIH HHS U54 HD083211NIDCD NIH HHS R21 DC016144
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose This study synthesized effects of interventions on language outcomes of young children (ages 0-8 years) with autism and evaluated the extent to which summary effects varied by intervention, participant, and outcome characteristics. Method A subset of effect sizes gathered for a larger meta-analysis (the Autism Intervention Meta-analysis or Project AIM) examining the effects of interventions for young children with autism, which were specific to language outcomes, was analyzed. Robust variance estimation and metaregression were used to calculate summary and moderated effects while controlling for intercorrelation among outcomes within studies. Results A total of 221 outcomes were gathered from 60 studies. The summary effect of intervention on language outcomes was small but significant. Summary effects were larger for expressive and composite language outcomes compared to receptive language outcomes. Interventions implemented by clinicians, or by clinicians and caregivers together, had summary effects that were significantly larger than interventions implemented by caregivers alone. Participants' pretreatment language age equivalent scores positively and significantly moderated intervention effects, such that effects were significantly larger on average when samples of children had higher pretreatment language levels. Effects were not moderated by cumulative intervention intensity, intervention type, autism symptomatology, chronological age, or the proximity or boundedness of outcomes. Study quality concerns were apparent for a majority of included outcomes. Conclusions We found evidence that intervention can facilitate improvements in language outcomes for young children with autism. Effects were largest for expressive and composite language outcomes, for children with initially higher language abilities, and for interventions implemented by clinicians or by caregivers and clinicians combined. However, quality concerns of included studies and borderline significance of some results temper our conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness and corresponding moderators.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderChildChild, PreschoolHumansInfantInfant, NewbornLanguage

Identifiers

PMID32384865
PMCPMC7842122
OpenAlexW3021862202

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.