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Child-therapist interaction features impact Autism treatment response trajectories
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Child-therapist interaction features impact Autism treatment response trajectories

Giulio Bertamini, Silvia Perzolli, Arianna Bentenuto, Eleonora Paolizzi, Cesare Furlanello and Paola Venuti
Research in developmental disabilities, v 135, 104452
01 Apr 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104452
PMID: 36796270
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104452View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Restricted

Abstract

Education & Educational Research Education, Special Life Sciences & Biomedicine Rehabilitation Science & Technology Social Sciences
Background: Identifying mechanisms of change in Autism treatment may help explain response variability and maximize efficacy. For this, the child-therapist interaction could have a key role as stressed by developmental models of intervention, but still remains under-investigated. Aims: The longitudinal study of treatment response trajectories considering both baseline and child-therapist interaction features by means of predictive modeling. Methods and Procedures: N = 25 preschool children were monitored for one year during Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention. N = 100 video-recorded sessions were annotated with an observational coding system at four time points, to extract quantitative interaction features. Outcomes and Results: Baseline and interaction variables were combined to predict response trajectories at one year, and achieved the best predictive performance. The baseline developmental gap, therapist's efficacy in child engagement, respecting children's timing after fast behavioral synchronization, and modulating the interplay to prevent child withdrawal emerged as key factors. Further, changes in interaction patterns in the early phase of the intervention were predictive of the overall response to treatment. Conclusions and Implications: Clinical implications are discussed, stressing the importance of promoting emotional self-regulation during intervention and the possible relevance of the first period of intervention for later response.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Education, Special
Rehabilitation
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