A systematic review on parent mediated intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorders in Indi

Abstract

The relevance of identifying effective interventions and rehabilitation of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) increases day by day due to the growth, especially in India. One strategy which has been found to be effective to meet the requirements of children and adolescents with ASD is parent-mediated programmes. However, since most studies of this kind have been undertaken in high-income nations, the present research will explore the effect of parent-mediated intervention programmes in India, a country with a high incidence of developmental disabilities. A fast systematic review employing databases such as PUBMED, psycINFO, Medline, Web of science, and Google Scholar was conducted to assess Indian research on PMI for children with ASD published before February 2022. Studies that were included in the review covered research involving those between the ages of 1 and 18 who were diagnosed with ASD. The 354 research papers were collected, and 11 studies satisfied the criteria for inclusion, including randomised controlled trials and pre-and post-intervention studies. The current research reviewed the articles in terms of the efficacy of parent-mediated interventions (PMI) and their feasibility and acceptability. Studies show that PMI helps improve interactions between parents and children as well as children's social, communication, motor, and cognitive skills. They also help parents learn more about how to teach their children and improve their children's language and academic skills. The overall conclusion of the systematic review was that PMI helps improve parent and child skills.

Parent Mediated Interventions for Children with Autism across India: A Qualitative Study

“…One review 14 on PMI in India found the number of papers (13 based on their inclusion criteria) on PMI to be limited in India. Of the papers included in the review, most (61%) of them focused children below 6 years of age.…”

Transporting and implementing a caregiver-mediated intervention for toddlers with autism in Goa, India: evidence from the social ABCs

“…While most interventions have been developed in high-income countries [with only 5% having been developed in Africa, South America, or India ( 7 )], there remains a limited but growing understanding of the transportability of western-developed interventions for use in LMICs ( 8 ). A recent systematic review of 13 studies concluded that caregiver-mediated interventions for children with ASD hold promise in India, the second-most populous country in the world ( 9 ). The systematic review uses a broad interpretation of the term “caregiver-mediated”, to include a range of models, from parent psychoeducation to intensive centre-based models that combine therapist and caregiver-mediated components, with varying levels of evidence.…”

“…Sengupta et al, ( 6 ) astutely highlighted some ambiguity in the use of the term “caregiver-mediated” within the Indian context, contributing to challenges in interpreting the research evidence in this field [although this is by no means a uniquely Indian challenge; e.g., see ( 10 )]. Of the 13 studies reviewed by Kalorath et al ( 9 ), eight focus on children under 6 years of age (the others include children up to age 9 or 10). Of these, only three report on models that are exclusively caregiver-mediated and relatively resource-efficient ( 6 , 11 , 12 ); others describe programs that involve a therapist-delivered component ( 13 ), are longer in duration and/or more intensive [i.e., ( 14 ): 19-month model ( 15 ), and ( 16 ): daily intervention for 3 months], or programs that focus on behaviour reduction ( 17 ) or parent psychoeducation ( 18 ) rather than direct caregiver coaching to promote the child's developmental progress.…”