Occupation-Based Group Interventions Impacting Social Participation For Autistic Children and Adolescents: A Rapid Systematic Review

Abstract

This rapid systematic review examines the literature on effective group interventions targeting social participation in autistic children and adolescents. Autistic youth often receive occupational therapy with social participation being a distinct targeted outcome. However, recent advocacy has introduced a need for reducing social skills training in favor of client-centered social participation, which can be done through the lens of occupational therapy’s unique core values. This review provides an overview and analysis of 20 studies that addressed a wide range of occupation-based group interventions in the areas of art, play, physical activity, school-based, and social skills group training (SSGT). Findings reveal moderate strength of evidence for the use of occupation-based group interventions in enhancing social participation in autistic children and adolescents, limited mostly by lack of blinding in studies. This review supports the use of group occupation-based interventions which can widen, inform, and guide the intervention approaches for occupational therapy practitioners working with this population.