Social anxiety is a prevalent issue among college students, often leading to poor academic and psychosocial adjustment. Expressive writing has shown promise as a brief, cost-effective intervention for improving mental and physical health. This study investigated the effects of a 15-min expressive writing session on the social performance of mildly…

Social communication deficits are one of the defining features of autism spectrum disorder. In schools, social communication deficits are assumed to be due to a skill acquisition issue and remediated through social skills instruction; however, social skills instruction has been fairly criticized, particularly by those in the autistic community, as…

A systematic review and meta-analysis were utilised to explore the methodological quality, program fidelity, and efficacy of social skills group programs (SSGPs) aiming to support autistic adolescents in navigating their everyday social worlds. The study evaluated the methodological quality and theoretical fidelity of studies, with a random effect…

Purpose: Despite group-level improvements in active engagement and related outcomes, significant individual variability in response to early intervention exists. The purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the effects of a group-based Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) on active engagement among a heterogeneous…

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) focuses on providing socially significant treatments and practices. Recent advancements in ethically-minded research have encouraged practitioners to think beyond the technical skills required for implementing behavior-analytic practices and consider how these practices are delivered. Compassionate care in ABA has…

Special education teachers are asked to deliver high-quality instruction with compassion and care (Cipriano et al., 2016). The development of interpersonal characteristics that positively influence the quality of the interaction have been shown to be predictors of success (Callahan, 2019). Despite the critical impact of these soft skills on the…

It is widely assumed that (1) children with challenging behavior may lack the social-emotional skills to be successful in classroom settings and (2) instruction in social-emotional skills can help prevent the occurrence of young children's challenging behavior. However, no data are available to indicate whether specific social-emotional skills…

This systematic review aims to describe six types of physical activity interventions utilized with children and young adults ages 5-22 as a treatment for ASD. These interventions include swimming, cycling, neuromuscular training, yoga, sports, and exergaming. This examines the knowledge gaps regarding the details of these interventions via time…

Social skill interventions have become increasingly popular in recent times, as well as the use of technology to deliver and aid interventions for the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. Little research exists on the use of apps to teach social skills to individuals with ASD, in particular the behaviour change procedures that exist within…

The effect of psychological treatment on social functioning, quality of life and autism traits in autistic people with suicidal behaviour remains largely unknown. At six Dutch mental health centres, 123 adult outpatients with "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th edition) diagnosed autism spectrum condition and…

Purpose: Using data from a randomized clinical trial evaluating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children with autism and co-occurring anxiety, this study examined the relationship between autism features and anxiety symptoms throughout CBT. Methods: Two multilevel mediation analyses were run which examined the mediating role of changes in…

In this randomized controlled trial (RCT), the digital socio-emotional competence training Zirkus Empathico was tested in 74 Central European children (5.1 (0.9) years; 34 females) within a longitudinal design (three time points: T1 = pre-training; T2 = immediately following 6-week training, T3 = 3-month follow-up). The pre-registered primary…

Interventions utilizing human-computer interaction (HCI) in autism rehabilitation have gained popularity, yet their efficacy has not been fully elucidated. This meta-analysis assessed 30 international studies from the past decade that employed HCIs for autism intervention. The findings revealed a moderate positive effect (g = 0.484) on improving…

Behavior analysts are expected to provide high quality services to autistic individuals/individuals with ASD. Quality behavior intervention requires the interventionist to demonstrate critical thinking skills, in-the-moment analysis, flexibility, and clinical judgment (J.B. Leaf et al., 2016a; J.B. Leaf et al., 2016d, Soluaga et al., 2008). Yet,…

The purpose of this study was to identify appropriate outcome measures and assess preliminary efficacy of occupational therapy in an equine environment (OT[superscript ee] HORSPLAY) for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Twenty-four youth with ASD aged 6-13 were randomized to 10 weeks of OT[superscript ee] HORSPLAY or to a waitlist control…