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Evidence-Based Practices in Autism: Where We Are Now and Where We Need to Go

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Evidence-Based Practices and Treatments for Children with Autism

Abstract

As shown in Chap. 1 (see Fig. 14.1 and Volkmar in press), publication on autism has increased significantly in recent years. We undertook additional analyses to determine whether this increase reflected greater interest in autism more generally or included a specific interest in autism treatments. We conducted a literature search of the terms “autism” and “autism and treatment” for the years 1990–2008. Unlike the search described in Chap. 1, which relied on the Medline database, the search described here relied on the Ovid PsycINFO database, which we felt would capture the full range of publications related to treatment. Differences and recommendations for using different databases are discussed in an appendix to this chapter. When conducting the searches, two filters were used; the “all journals” filter limited results to articles published in journals and the “year” filter limited returns to each specific year. The number of articles about “autism” and those specifically about “autism treatments” published in a journal between 1990 and 2008 (the most recent year with complete data) is shown in Fig. 14.1.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Applied behavior analysis

ADI-R:

Autism diagnostic interview – revised

ADOS:

Autism diagnostic observation schedule

ADOS-T:

Autism diagnostic observation schedule – Toddler

ASDs:

Autism spectrum disorders

CARS:

Childhood Autism Rating Scale

d :

Cohen’s d

DSM-IV:

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition

EBM:

Evidence-based medicine

EBP:

Evidence-based practice

EBT:

Evidence-based treatment

EIBI:

Early intensive behavioral intervention

FDA:

Food and Drug Administration

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance image

ICD-10:

International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th edition

IDEA:

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

IEP:

Individualized Education Program

N of 1:

Individual trial

OCD:

Obsessive–compulsive disorder

OT:

Occupational therapy

PDD:

Pervasive developmental disorder

PECS:

Picture Exchange Communication System

PRT:

Pivotal response treatment

PT:

Physical therapy

RCT:

Randomized control trial

RUPP:

Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology

SCERTS:

Social communication emotional regulation, transactional support

SSED:

Single Subject Experimental Design

SSRI:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

TEACCH:

Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar & Brian Reichow

  2. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Peter Doehring

Authors
  1. Fred R. Volkmar
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  2. Brian Reichow
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  3. Peter Doehring
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Reichow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, South Frontage Rd. 230, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    Brian Reichow

  2. Center for Autism Research, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Market Street 3535, Philadelphia, 19146, Pennsylvania, USA

    Peter Doehring

  3. Yale Child Study Center, South Frontage Rd. 230, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    Domenic V. Cicchetti

  4. Yale Child Study Center, South Frontage Rd. 230, New Haven, 06520, Connecticut, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

Appendix: Research Databases for Information on Autism Treatments

Appendix: Research Databases for Information on Autism Treatments

Database

Brief description

Types of source

Advantages

Disadvantages

PsycINFO http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo

This database is managed by the American Psychological Association and has over 2.8 million records.

• Journal articles

• Good source for information on treatments

• Need subscription to see search results

• Books

• Book chapters

• Some sources not readily available (e.g., theses and dissertations)

• Theses

• Regularly updated

• Dissertations

• Might not cover all psychopharmacologic treatments

Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) http://www.eric.ed.gov

This database is managed by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) of the US Department of Education and contains over 1.3 million bibliographic records.

• Journal articles

• • Links to many full-text documents

• Focus on education is narrow – most journal articles and books are found in PsycINFO

• Books

• Research syntheses, including reports from the What Works Clearinghouse

• Regularly updated

• Contains unpublished material (i.e., gray literature)

• Does not currently contain any reviews of autism treatments

• Conference papers

• Technical reports

• Gray literature might not be of same quality as published materials

• Policy papers

• Theses

• Dissertations

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

This database is maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the US National Library of Medicine, located at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and comprises more than 19 million citations for articles from MEDLINE and life science journals.

• Journal articles

• Uses MeSH classification system, which can provide greater specificity

• Provides list of related articles

• Links to some full-

• text articles from PubMed Central or publisher

• MeSH classification system might not be familiar to users

• Limited to journal articles

• Many social science journals are not indexed, thus, it will miss many relevant articles, especially concerning psycho-educational treatments

Cochrane Library http://www.thecochranelibrary.com

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews contains the systematic reviews conducted for the Cochrane Collaboration and other review organizations. Note, most resources that can be located using the Cochrane Library are reviews.

• Cochrane reviews

• No subscription needed to perform search and the summaries and abstracts are provided without fee

• Subscription required to view full reviews – some countries, states, or provinces have agreements to provide access

• Database of abstracts of reviews of effects

• Cochrane central register of controlled trials

• Cochrane methodology register

• Reviews undergo rigorous process and typically have good methods

• Few reviews regarding autism, mostly limited to studies using RCTs

• Health technology assessment database

• NHS economic evaluation

• Database

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Volkmar, F.R., Reichow, B., Doehring, P. (2011). Evidence-Based Practices in Autism: Where We Are Now and Where We Need to Go. In: Reichow, B., Doehring, P., Cicchetti, D., Volkmar, F. (eds) Evidence-Based Practices and Treatments for Children with Autism. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6975-0_14

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