A Pilot Study Evaluating the Effects of Early Intervention for Italian Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Laura Villa,Massimo Molteni,Valentina Riva,Barbara Urbani,Elena Maria Riboldi

doi:10.3390/brainsci11111381

Laura Villa, Massimo Molteni + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11111381

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Journal: Brain sciences	Publication Date: Oct 21, 2021
License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: IRCCS Eugenio Medea

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a high-cost/high-burden problem. Early intervention may prevent development of the disorder, improving child outcomes and reducing long-term consequences. However, few studies have investigated the role of early intervention in children younger than two years. This study aims to examine the effect of early intervention in 18-month-old high-risk siblings of children with ASD (HR-ASD) with clinical signs of autism. The intervention is based on the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis and focuses on the development of early precursors to social and communicative competence (joint attention and imitation behaviors). After controlling for baseline differences, two comparison HR-ASD groups were included: 15 HR-ASD toddlers receiving behavioral intervention for 3 h per week for 5 months (INT+) and 15 HR-ASD toddlers who were only clinically monitored from age 18 months (INT−). Changes in social communication, restricted/repetitive behaviors, and language were assessed using standardized measures at pre- (T0) and post-intervention (T1). From T0 to T1, the INT+ group showed significant improvements in communication, social interaction, and language compared to INT− group. There was no effect on restricted/repetitive behaviors. Our findings highlighted the importance of early detection/intervention in autism and supported a positive impact of targeted interventions to improve outcomes in at-risk children.

Highlights

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown a marked increase in the last decades
Previous studies reported that infants at high risk for ASD (HR-ASD) who are later diagnosed with the disorder show atypical development in communication, social skills, language, and sensory responsiveness by the age of 18 months, so a prompt and early intervention may mitigate the full onset of ASD-related symptoms
Descriptive statistics of individual, demographic, and clinical characteristics at T0 are shown in Table 1. t-Tests and chi-square statistics were used to compare the distribution of collected variables between INT+ and INT− groups

Summary

Introduction

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown a marked increase in the last decades. Prospective and longitudinal studies of siblings of children with ASD (showing a 13-fold increased risk for ASD by age 3 years [4]) are well suited to track typical and atypical developmental trajectories [5,6,7,8] and offer important advantages in terms of early detection/intervention prior to the emergence of ASD symptoms [9]. Previous studies reported that infants at high risk for ASD (HR-ASD) who are later diagnosed with the disorder show atypical development in communication, social skills, language, and sensory responsiveness by the age of 18 months, so a prompt and early intervention may mitigate the full onset of ASD-related symptoms

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