Behavioral therapies for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review.

This review looked at behavioral therapies for autism in healthcare settings. Studies showed that these therapies helped improve children's thinking skills, speech, and social abilities. Two main approaches worked well: cognitive-behavioral therapy (which helps with thoughts and behaviors) and the Early Start Denver Model (a play-based early intervention). One specific anxiety program called BIACA was better than another approach for reducing worry in autistic children.

However, researchers need more studies comparing different therapy types to know which works best.

This systematic review following PRISMA guidelines examined behavioral therapies for autism spectrum disorder in healthcare settings. The review included randomized clinical trials and observational studies from MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and Lilacs databases. Results demonstrated improvements in cognitive and verbal components for patients receiving behavioral therapies. Cognitive-behavioral therapy and Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) showed positive impacts on skill development.

Specifically, the Behavioral Intervention for Anxiety in Children with Autism (BIACA) improved cognition and reduced anxiety symptoms compared to the Coping Cat protocol. ESDM showed improvements in cognitive, verbal, and social aspects. However, the MASSI protocol-based cognitive-behavioral therapy did not impact anxious symptom reduction. The authors noted that improvements sometimes occurred independently of group assignment and were related to intervention duration.

Behavioral therapies, particularly cognitive-behavioral therapy and ESDM, show promise for improving cognitive, verbal, and social outcomes in autism. BIACA appears superior to other CBT approaches for anxiety management. Healthcare providers should consider these evidence-based interventions, though more comparative research is needed to guide optimal treatment selection.

Sample size not reported. Further randomized clinical trials comparing behavioral therapies with one another are needed. Some improvements occurred independently of group assignment and were related to intervention duration, suggesting confounding factors may influence outcomes.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopment spectrum characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and interpersonal interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interest, or activities. The appropriate screening and diagnosis must be realized to improve the children's prognosis. Moreover, appropriate treatments are necessary to promote better social integration and development. In this scenario, this systematic review aims to evaluate the impacts of behavioral therapies applied in healthcare settings for patients with ASD.

This systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines. The databases MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL (Cochrane), and Lilacs were accessed, and gray and manual searches were performed. The search strategy was created with terms referring to autism and behavioral therapy. The studies were assessed qualitatively.

Randomized clinical trials and observational studies demonstrated improvements in cognitive and verbal components of patients who received behavioral therapies in therapeutic settings. These results indicate a positive impact of both cognitive-behavioral therapy and ESDM on the development of patients' skills. Among the cognitive-behavioral therapies, the one based on the MASSI protocol did not impact the reduction of anxious symptoms. As for cognitive-behavioral therapy, one study demonstrated that the Behavioral Intervention for Anxiety in Children with Autism (BIACA), when compared to the Coping Cat protocol, improves cognition and reduces anxiety symptoms.

Despite these results, further randomized clinical trials comparing behavioral therapies with one another are needed. In the context of behavioral therapy within a healthcare setting, the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) showed improvements in the cognitive, verbal, and social aspects of the evaluated patients. Improvement in scores sometimes is achieved independently of the group and related to the time of interventions.