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Parent-Mediated Music Interventions with Children with ASD: a Systematic Review

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Abstract

Parent-mediated interventions complement professional services and empower parents. In music therapy, this treatment modality is emerging. A systematic review was conducted to assess the existence of parent-mediated music interventions with children with ASD, identify the characteristics of parent coaching used, and summarize results. Thirteen studies were selected. Framework analyses were performed on descriptions of “parent-mediated,” “parent coaching,” outcomes, measures, and findings. Quality of the research and of the training programs varied substantially. Salient findings include emerging interest in involving parents in treatment, limited conceptual frameworks for parent coaching, and limited development of this modality. High attrition, parental effort, and mixed populations limit the internal and social validity of studies. Music therapists may consider investigating parent-mediated interventions, while considering parental effort.

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Notes

  1. Only one article in French and two in Spanish were found, all with English abstracts. The articles in Spanish were excluded at the Title/Abstract screening level since they were theoretical/dissemination articles. The French article was included for data extraction and was translated to English by a hired certified French-English translator, who is a French native speaker with a Master’s degree in the USA.

  2. Most studies did not have complete information. It is included when available.

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Acknowledgements

The present manuscript is part of the author’s dissertation presented in partial fulfillment of a doctoral degree at the University of Kansas. The author wishes to thank her dissertation committee, Dr. Christopher M. Johnson, Dr. Hanson-Abromeit, Dr. Cindy Colwell, Dr. Jim Daugherty, and Dr. Michael Roberts, for their support, as well as Stephen Chavez, Jae Young Jung, and Sophie Lott, graduate students at Arizona State University, for their help in updating this review.

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  1. Music Education and Music Therapy Division, School of Music, Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts, Arizona State University, P.O. Box, 870405, Tempe, AZ, 85287-0405, USA

    Eugenia Hernandez-Ruiz

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Hernandez-Ruiz, E. Parent-Mediated Music Interventions with Children with ASD: a Systematic Review. Rev J Autism Dev Disord 8, 403–420 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-020-00219-6

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