Interventions for children with autism in China: A scoping review of current research.

Researchers looked at autism treatments being used in China over the past 10 years by reviewing 134 studies. They found 19 different types of treatments, with 14 being proven effective by research standards. While autism services in China have grown quickly, the study found that girls with autism and children in remote areas still need better access to proven treatments.

This scoping review examined autism interventions used in China from 2014-2024, analyzing 134 studies across multiple databases. Researchers identified 19 different intervention types, categorizing them using US evidence-based practice guidelines. The review found 14 evidence-based interventions and 2 interventions with some evidence base being implemented in China, plus 3 widely-used interventions not in official guidelines. The study summarized implementation methods, measurement tools, and efficacy data for common interventions.

Authors noted that China's autism intervention field has developed rapidly over the past decade but identified gaps in serving female and remote populations, recommending increased focus on evidence-based approaches.

Results suggest China has adopted many evidence-based autism interventions but implementation gaps remain. Practitioners should prioritize evidence-based approaches and consider access barriers for underserved populations including females and those in remote areas.

As a scoping review, no quality assessment of individual studies was conducted. Sample sizes and methodological rigor of included studies not reported. Limited generalizability outside Chinese context.

In the past decade, childhood autism intervention in China has been in a stage of vigorous development, but there is still a lack of a comprehensive review of interventions. PubMed, Embase, the APA PsycINFO, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, and SinoMed were systematically searched for publications from core Chinese journals and dissertations, as well as English peer-reviewed journal papers from 2014 to 2024. Two researchers extracted information from publications after independent screening. According to the Evidence-Based Practice report by the National Center for Professional Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United States, the interventions used in included studies were divided into three categories: evidence-based interventions, interventions with a certain evidence base, and interventions not included in the manual.

The review included 134 articles containing 19 different types of interventions, and the characteristics and assessment tools were summarized. Fourteen evidence-based interventions and 2 interventions with a certain evidence base were extracted. There are also 3 interventions not included in the manual but summarized due to their widespread use. This scoping review summarizes the characteristics and trends of autism intervention research in China over the past decade.

We summarize 14 common types of interventions, including implementation methods, measurement tools, and efficacy. More evidence-based interventions should be implemented in the future, with a greater focus on female and remote children with autism.