Title

The effects of music therapy on social skills in individuals with autism

Abstract

Over the past decades, the rate of autism has increased around the world (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). A prolonged impairment in social skills and communication is a key feature of autism. According to Vaiouli and Schertz (2012) joint attention is an important developm...
Show moreOver the past decades, the rate of autism has increased around the world (Ghasemtabar et al., 2015). A prolonged impairment in social skills and communication is a key feature of autism. According to Vaiouli and Schertz (2012) joint attention is an important developmental milestone for developing higher levels of social engagement. The delay or absence of joint attention is typically seen in individuals with autism (Vaiouli & Schertz, 2012). Given that there is no known treatment or cure for autism, the focus in supporting individuals with autism is aimed toward implementing an intervention strategy that targets the symptoms of autism (Yum et al., 2020). The current investigation conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of music therapy on social skills in individuals with autism. The analysis for this study was based on data from four research studies providing 20 effect size estimates. The sample within the four studies included data from 117 participants. The sample size for the effect size analysis was based on a sample size of n = 596. The four articles included in this meta-analysis produced an overall large positive significant effect size of d = 0.572 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.37 to 0.78. The mean effect size suggests a large significant effect from music therapy across all studies. All studies included in this current investigation published and reported overall positive results. The Q-statistic tests revealed significant heterogeneity across all studies, with variability across the mean effect size estimates, ranging from d = - 0.14 to d = 1.28. Since the effect size estimates were all positive for the published studies, it is likely that publication bias existed in the studies used in this meta-analysis. According to Walker et al. (2008) high levels of heterogeneity can compromise the conclusion of a meta-analysis, therefore future research is also needed to help decrease the level of heterogeneity across studies.
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Year Issued

2023

Author

Rux, Hannah

Sub-title

a meta-analysis