Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41063214›Full record

ReviewChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2025

Systematic review: the impact of policy levers on mental health service utilization and access for Autistic children.

Sara Cibralic, Lulu Barker, Patrick Hawker, Bruce Tonge, Katrina Williams, Elizabeth J Elliott, Mark Bellgrove, Tim Silk, Vicki Anderson, Michael Kohn and 2 more

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

12 authors.

Sara CibralicSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. s.cibralic@unsw.edu.au.
Lulu BarkerSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Patrick HawkerSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Bruce TongeMonash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Katrina WilliamsMonash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Elizabeth J ElliottUniversity of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Mark BellgroveMonash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Tim SilkDeakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Vicki AndersonMurdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Michael KohnWestern Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia.
Emma SciberrasMurdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Valsamma EapenSchool of Clinical Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAutistic children's ability to access mental health services can be challenging due to the limited availability of therapists with autism experience, service ineligibility, and financial strain. This systematic review evaluated and synthesized literature regarding the impact of government policy levers on the access to, and utilization of, mental health services by Autistic children and their families.

methodInterdisciplinary databases together with gray literature and supplementary searches were used to identify relevant articles. Peer-reviewed, English language studies which reported on the impact of government policy levers on the utilization of, and access to, mental health services by Autistic children and their families were included.

resultsSearches resulted in the identification of 2305 articles (database searches = 744, additional searches = 1531), six of which were included in the final review. All six articles were from the United States of America, published between 2013 and 2020, with a focus on national and state regulatory policy levers targeting insurance companies. Results indicated that most policy levers did not improve service access to, or utilization of, mental health services. Gray literature searches identified that several countries had implemented autism specific policy levers, most however had not been evaluated regarding their impact on mental health service access and utilization by Autistic children or their families.

conclusionThe majority of identified policy levers have not resulted in greater utilization or access of mental health services for Autistic children or their families. More global research, focusing on datasets that have allowed policies time to impact change, is needed.

Indexed as

Autism spectrum disorderHealth care accessibilityHealth policyMental health servicesSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID41063214
PMCPMC12509417

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.