Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35957523›Full record

SynthesisAutism : the international journal of research and practice2023

Benefits and harms of interventions to improve anxiety, depression, and other mental health outcomes for autistic people: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Audrey Linden, Lawrence Best, Freya Elise, Danielle Roberts, Aoife Branagan, Yong Boon Ernest Tay, Laura Crane, James Cusack, Brian Davidson, Ian Davidson and 5 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewNetwork Meta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
36citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

36 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines 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

15 authors.

Audrey LindenUniversity College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2255-4958
Lawrence BestUniversity College London, UK.
Freya EliseUniversity College London, UK.
Danielle RobertsUniversity College London, UK.
Aoife BranaganUniversity College London, UK.
Yong Boon Ernest TayUniversity College London, UK.
Laura CraneUniversity College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-4161-3490
James CusackAutistica, UK.
Brian DavidsonUniversity College London, UK.
Ian DavidsonCheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5145-1096
Caroline HearstAutAngel Community Interest Company, UK.
William MandyUniversity College London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3564-5808
Dheeraj RaiUniversity of Bristol, UK.
Edward SmithAutistica, UK.
Kurinchi GurusamyUniversity College London, UK.

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

lay abstractNearly three out of four autistic people experience mental health problems such as stress, anxiety or depression. The research already done does not guide us on how best to prevent or treat mental health problems for autistic people. Our aim was to look at the benefits and harms of different interventions on mental health outcomes in autistic people. We searched all the published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) about interventions for mental health conditions in autistic people until 17 October 2020. We also searched for RCTs that were not published in peer-reviewed journals. These were obtained from registers of clinical trials online. We then combined the information from all these trials using advanced statistical methods to analyse how good the interventions are. Seventy-one studies (3630 participants) provided information for this research. The studies reported how participants were responding to the intervention for only a short period of time. The trials did not report which interventions worked for people with intellectual disability. In people without intellectual disability, some forms of cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness therapy may be helpful. However, further research is necessary. Many trials used medications to target core features of autism rather than targeting mental health conditions, but these medications did not help autistic people. Until we have more evidence, treatment of mental health conditions in autistic people should follow the evidence available for non-autistic people. We plan to widely disseminate the findings to healthcare professionals through medical journals and conferences and contact other groups representing autistic people.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderIntellectual DisabilityAnxietyDepressionHumansOutcome Assessment, Health CareRandomized Controlled Trials as Topicadolescentsadultsanxietyautism spectrum disordersdepressioninterventions – pharmacologicinterventions – psychosocial/behaviouralschool-age children

Identifiers

PMID35957523
PMCPMC9806485

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.