Therapies for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Table 9. Overview of behavioral studies a
Characteristic RCTs
Intervention
nRCTs
30
Prospective
cohort studies
Retrospective
cohort studies
Prospective
case series
Retrospective
case series
(n=29) (n=7) (n=6) (n=3) (n=25) (n=8) (n=78)
Early intensive behavioral and
developmental
6 5 5 2 11 6 35
Social skills 8 0 0 1 7 0 16
Play-/interaction-based 7 0 0 0 4 2 13
Interventions targeting associated
behaviors
7 1 1 0 2 0 11
Other 1 1 0 0 1 0 3
Diagnostic approach
Clinical DSM-IV dx +ADI-R and/or
ADOS
5 0 2 0 9 0 16
Combination approaches b 15 2 3 0 10 4 34
No DSM-IV or ADOS dx /
unspecified
Treatment duration
9 5 1 3 6 4 28
1 to ≤3 months 13 3 1 0 5 0 22
>3 to ≤6 months 5 1 0 0 4 0 10
>6 to ≤12 months 4 1 2 0 9 2 18
>12 months 3 2 3 3 3 5 19
Unknown/not reported
Study population
0 0 0 0 2 1 3
U.S. 16 3 2 1 17 4 43
Europe 5 4 1 2 3 2 17
Asia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 8 0 3 0 5 2 18
Total N participants 1,265 215 254 157 860 529 3,065
ADI-R=Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised; ADOS=Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; DSM-IV=Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4 th edition; dx=diagnosis; nRCT=non randomized controlled trial; RCT=randomized
controlled trial
a This table provides an overview of selected data for all studies categorized as behavioral; not all behavioral studies are addressed
in the KQ1 section. Some behavioral studies apply only to KQ2 and KQ7; however these studies are included in this table to
provide a comprehensive overview of available behavioral literature. The numbers in the table indicate the number of unique
studies with each characteristic.
b Clinical DSM-IV dx +other diagnostic tool or ADOS + other diagnostic tool or only clinical DSM-IV dx or only ADOS.
Early Intensive Behavioral and Developmental Interventions
Early intensive behavioral and developmental interventions include interventions based on:
Total Literature