Family-centred music therapy to promote social engagement in young children with severe autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled study
Thompson GA, McFerran KS, Gold C
Child: care, health and development · 60 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- University or hospital
- University of Melbourne
- Government
- The Victorian Government Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Australia
- University or hospital
- The University of Melbourne
Based on 3 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2013-11-22 · Child Care Health Dev · vol. 40 · issue 6 · pp. 840–852
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Cited
- 162 citations · more than 95% of similar papers · 5.5× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 41 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Music Therapy and Health · Infant Development and Preterm Care · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Keywords
- Autism spectrum disorder, Psychology, Thematic analysis, Intervention (counseling), Social engagement, Developmental psychology, Music therapy, Autism, Social skills, Clinical psychology, Qualitative research, Psychotherapist, Psychiatry
- MeSH
- humans, treatment outcome, music therapy, communication, parent-child relations, parents, interpersonal relations, child development disorders, pervasive, family therapy, child, child, preschool, female, male, early intervention, educational
3 authors
From AU, NO
- Grace Anne Thompson · correspondingThe University of Melbourne
- Katrina Skewes McFerranThe University of Melbourne
- Christian GoldUniversity of Bergen
Abstract
Background
Limited capacity for social engagement is a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often evident early in the child's development. While these skills are difficult to train, there is some evidence that active involvement in music-making provides unique opportunities for social interaction between participants. Family-centred music therapy (FCMT) endeavours to support social engagement between child and parent within active music-making, yet the extent of benefits provided is unknown.
Aim
This study investigated the impacts of FCMT on social engagement abilities.
Methods
Twenty-three children (36-60 months) with severe ASD received either 16 weeks of FCMT in addition to their early intervention programmes (n = 12), or their early intervention programme only (n = 11). Change in social engagement was measured with standardized parent-report assessments, parent interviews and clinician observation.
Results
Intention-to-treat analysis for the Vineland Social Emotional Early Childhood Scale indicated a significant effect in favour of FCMT. Thematic qualitative analysis of the parent interviews showed that the parent-child relationship grew stronger.
Conclusion
FCMT improves social interactions in the home and community and the parent-child relationship, but not language skills or general social responsiveness. This study provides preliminary support for the use of FCMT to promote social engagement in children with severe ASD.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
Community trust
Loading…
How much do you trust this study's findings?
Comments
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inSomething wrong here?
Flag this study if its information, labels or funding look wrong. An editor reviews every flag.
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inEducational information about published research. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start or stop anything.