Journal of Health Sciences & Surveillance System

The Effectiveness of Parent-mediationcommunication- focused Method on Improving Receptive and Expressive Language in Autism Spectrum Disorders Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Document Type : Review Articles

Authors

Shiva Ebrahimian Dehaghani 1, 2
Adine Ranjbari 1
Ghazal Rostami Pour Fard 1
Mohebat Vali 3

1 Department of Speech Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

3 Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Research Center for Health Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30476/jhsss.2024.100877.1860
Abstract
Background: One of the core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is social communication deficits. Joint attention (JA) is broadly used as a main component in receptive and expressive language. Parent-mediated communication-focused treatment ( PACT) i s a JA t reatment for c hildren w ith A SD. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the effectiveness of the PACT method on improving receptive and expressive language in ASDs symptoms.
Methods: A comprehensive search of databases was performed to find relevant studies published from 1990 to September 26, 2023. The researchers included only English randomized controlled trials of PACT for children with ASD (≥18 years old). Studies were excluded if they reported only qualified information and results on the efficacy or inefficacy of the intervention and did not include a control group.
Results: The results of the Hedges g study showed that PACT had a very large effect (Hedges g=0.846 95%CI: 0.075, 1.616, P=0.031) on synchronous parent act, a small effect (Hedges g=0.186 95%CI: -0.082, 0.455, P=0.174) on adaptive behavior, a medium effect (Hedges g=0.505 95%CI: 0.288, 0.722, P<0.001) on child’s initiations,,a small effect (Hedges g=0.091 95%CI:- 0.097, 0.279, P=0.343) on expressive language and finally a small effect (Hedges g=0.079 P=0.410) on receptive language.
Conclusion: These findings may lead clinicians to use PACT along with other intervention methods, which show promising impacts on the improvement of language. This approach may help children with ASD to develop a more efficient interaction with their parents and simultaneously a better language development.

Highlights

Shiva Ebrahimian (Google Scholar)

Mohebat Vali (Google Scholar)

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorder
Parent mediation communication focused treatment
Speech and language rehabilitation
Developmental language disorders
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Journal of Health Sciences & Surveillance System
Volume 13, Issue 2
Spring 2025
Pages 127-135

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