Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38580853›Full record

SynthesisChild psychiatry and human development2026

Meta-analysis of Psychotherapy for Autistic Youth.

Kashia A Rosenau, Junok Kim, An-Chuen Billy Cho, Michael Seltzer, Ana M Ugueto, John R Weisz, Jeffrey J Wood

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Child psychiatry and human development, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
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.

Kashia A RosenauDavid Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA. krosenau@mednet.ucla.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9581-7264
Junok KimSchool of Education and Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2226-6523
An-Chuen Billy ChoSchool of Education and Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9848-8689
Michael SeltzerSchool of Education and Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.
Ana M UguetoUniversity of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7987-9123
John R WeiszHarvard University, Cambridge, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5560-6814
Jeffrey J WoodSchool of Education and Information Studies, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In order to provide more individualized support, it is imperative to further understand the effectiveness of different types of psychotherapy on the clinical areas of need common in autistic youth (Wood et al. in Behav Ther 46:83-95, 2015). Randomized controlled trials of psychotherapy for autistic youth were included if published in English, included random assignment to treatment or control group, required a previous diagnosis of autism, had a mean age of 6-17 years, and provided outcome measure data from both intervention and control groups. A total of 133 measures were coded across 29 studies and included 1464 participants with a mean age of 10.39 years (1.89). A small mean effect size (0.38,95% CI [0.26, 0.47]) was found overall, with the largest effects for cognitive behavioral therapies on autism-related clinical needs (0.81) and overall mental health (0.78). The results show the significant impact of psychotherapy interventions for autistic youth. Additional research should further assess the details of the most effective psychotherapies for each area of clinical need.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderPsychotherapyAdolescentChildHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAutismBehavioral therapyCognitive behavioral therapyMeta-analysisPsychotherapy

Identifiers

PMID38580853
PMCPMC12971889

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.