Predictors of Developmental and Adaptive Behaviour Outcomes in Response to Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention and the Early Start Denver Model.
Catherine Bent, Susan Glencross, Karen McKinnon and 3 others
PMID 37171764WHAT IT FOUND
No evidence one early autism program outperformed the other.
Scores rose over about a year in group-based ESDM and intensive behavioural intervention, but individual responses varied widely.
Key findings
01At follow-up, there was no significant difference between the G-ESDM and EIBI groups on developmental quotient or adaptive behaviour.
02Higher baseline sustained attention predicted higher non-verbal developmental quotient in the G-ESDM group, but not in the EIBI group.
03Attention to a playful adult at baseline was a significant predictor of later verbal skills and adaptive behaviour in the combined sample.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The children were not randomly assigned; families chose a service, so differences in children or families could explain results. The EIBI group had lower developmental quotient at intake, and seven children were removed to match developmental quotient, leaving 42 in G-ESDM and 40 in EIBI. The G-ESDM group was younger at intake, so age was included as a statistical covariate. The study compared two active services, not one service against no intervention. Each group was small for separate predictor analyses. Fidelity was used for service training but not collected for research, so delivery quality may vary. The paper does not report blinding of outcome assessors.
Declared interests
Funding came from the Australian Government Department of Social Services and La Trobe University. The supplied text lists no author competing-interests statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use baseline sustained attention to choose between ESDM and EIBI. The study was not randomised, the groups were small, and the sustained-attention finding applied only to non-verbal developmental quotient, not adaptive behaviour.