The Effect of Different Intervention Approaches on Gross Motor Outcomes of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

in Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly

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Layne Case Oregon State University

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Joonkoo Yun Oregon State University

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/apaq.2018-0174
Keywords:
ASD; effect
In Print:
Volume 36: Issue 4
Page Range:
501–526
Restricted access

Despite the rising interest in intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder, the extent to which interventions are effective on gross motor outcomes is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of different intervention approaches on gross motor outcomes among children with autism spectrum disorder using meta-analysis. A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria for quantitative analysis. Pre- and posttest means and SDs were extracted to calculate effect sizes. Potential moderator variables were chosen based on important intervention characteristics. The results suggest that interventions have a large effect on gross motor outcomes among children with autism spectrum disorder (δ = 0.99, SE = 0.19, p < .001, 95% confidence interval [0.62, 1.36]). The interventions that were 16 total hours or longer had a significantly larger effect than those less than 16 hr. In addition, the interventions in experimental settings had significantly larger effects than the interventions in practical settings. Future interventions should consider intensity, including not only the duration of the intervention but also the intensity in which specific intervention goals are targeted.

The authors are with the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

Case (casela@oregonstate.edu) is corresponding author.
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