Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42210093›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neurodevelopmental disorders2026

Early developmental trajectories associated with different styles and intensities of ESDM-based community intervention.

Liliana Ruta, Elisa Leonardi, Cristina Carrozza, Francesca I Famà, Agrippina Campisi, Stefania Aiello, NEST Team, Flavia Marino, Alfia Ruggieri, Sabrina Baieli and 13 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06494605 (Early Neurodivergent Developmental Trajectories in Toddlers and Young Children on the Autism Spectrum and Effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model in Community Settings), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

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

NCT06494605 narecruitingnot on this map

Early Neurodivergent Developmental Trajectories in Toddlers and Young Children on the Autism Spectrum and Effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model in Community Settings

TypeinterventionalSponsorIstituto per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione BiomedicaRan2021 to 2025Enrolled33ConditionsAutism Spectrum DisorderArmsEarly Start Denver Model (ESDM)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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

23 authors.

Liliana RutaInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Elisa LeonardiInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Cristina CarrozzaInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Francesca I FamàInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Agrippina CampisiInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Stefania AielloInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
NEST Team
Flavia MarinoInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Alfia RuggieriCentre for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Child Psychiatry Unit, Provincial Health Service of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Sabrina BaieliCentre for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Child Psychiatry Unit, Provincial Health Service of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Daniela MangiapaneAutism Centre, Child Psychiatry Unit, Provincial Health Service of Trapani, Trapani, Italy.
Gaetano VivonaAutism Centre, Child Psychiatry Unit, Provincial Health Service of Trapani, Trapani, Italy.
Sebastiano MarcianteAutism Centre, Child Psychiatry Unit, Provincial Health Service of Trapani, Trapani, Italy.
Gaspare CusimanoInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Antonio NarzisiIRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
Filippo MuratoriIRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
Antonella GaglianoChild and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Medicine and Surgery, "Kore" University of Enna, Enna, Italy.
Costanza ColombiIRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
Gennaro TartariscoInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.
Marilina MastrogiuseppeInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy. marilina.mastrogiuseppe@irib.cnr.it.
Sally J RogersDavis, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, MIND Institute, Sacramento, CA, USA.
Michael V LombardoLaboratory for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems @UniTn, Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia, Rovereto, Italy.
Giovanni PioggiaInstitute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (CNR-IRIB), National Research Council of Italy, Istituto Marino Di Mortelle, Via Vincenzo Leanza, Snc, Messina, 98164, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) widely used to support early development in young autistic children. This study examines early developmental trajectories associated with different styles and intensities of ESDM-based intervention compared with community Therapy as Usual (TAU) over a 6-month period. It also explores predictors of individual language development based on the intervention style.

methodsA total of 112 autistic children participated in the study and were assessed longitudinally while receiving either higher (6 h a week) or lower (3 h a week) intensity ESDM, or TAU at higher (6 h a week) intensity (N = 29, 32, and 51 participants in each group, respectively).

resultsThe primary findings show that children receiving higher-intensity ESDM exhibited steeper developmental trajectories than children receiving TAU in all the developmental areas such as Language, Personal-Social skills, Performance, Eye-Hand coordination and the General score. Notably, lower-intensity ESDM was associated with steeper developmental gains in individual general development, language, personal social skills, and performance when compared to TAU at double the intensity. Additionally, secondary results indicate that language developmental trajectories are influenced by different factors in the ESDM and TAU groups, with social domain and adaptive behaviors predicting language progress in the ESDM group and baseline cognitive skills predicting language development in the TAU group.

conclusionsThis study provides observational evidence that different intervention models and intensities may be associated with different short-term developmental trajectories in community settings, particularly where only limited weekly intervention hours are feasible. These findings may help inform service planning in low-resource contexts, while requiring replication in more controlled designs.

trial registrationClinical Trial ID: NCT06494605.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderAutistic DisorderBehavior TherapyChild DevelopmentEarly Intervention, EducationalLanguage DevelopmentChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantLongitudinal StudiesMaleSocial SkillsAutismCommunity settingDevelopmental trajectoriesEarly interventionESDMTAU

Identifiers

PMID42210093
PMCPMC13412173

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Registered trials

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.