Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41934558›Full record

ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2026

Stepped-Care Digital Gaming Intervention Enhanced Emotion Recognition in Autistic Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Huixin Lu, Siqi Li, Shasha Peng, Yingjian Zhang, Na Li, Zhiguo Hu

Erratum issuedAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Huixin LuCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China.
Siqi LiCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China.
Shasha PengCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China.
Yingjian ZhangCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China.
Na LiCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China.
Zhiguo HuCenter for Cognition and Brain Disorders, Affiliated Hospital of Hangzhou Normal University, No. 2318 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, 310015, P. R. China. huzg@hznu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1105-1546

Funding

Construction Fund of Key Medical Disciplines of HangZhou No. 2025HZGF02Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province No. 2023C03002
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the efficacy of a novel stepped-care digital game intervention for improving emotion recognition in autistic children.

methodsThirty-six autistic children (aged 3-10 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (N = 18) or a control group (N = 18). The intervention, grounded in the Theory of Mind framework, comprised three hierarchically structured games designed to progressively train emotion recognition. Pretest and posttest including questionnaires and emotion recognition tests were administered before and after the intervention.

resultsResults indicated that the experimental group showed significant improvements in accuracy on the emotion recognition tests, whereas the control group did not. A significant interaction was found for scores on the autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC), suggesting differential change patterns across groups. Parenting stress increased significantly in the control group but remained stable in the experimental group.

conclusionThese findings demonstrated that this stepped-care digital game intervention can effectively enhance emotion recognition in autistic children and may bring benefits for their core traits and parenting stress.

Indexed as

AutismDigital game interventionEmotion recognitionParenting stress

Identifiers

PMID41934558

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.