Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of psychological-educationalinterventions on the social skills of children with autism spectrumdisorder

The purpose of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of psychological-educational interventions on the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder in Iran.

This research has investigated the effect size of educational-psychological interventions on the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder by using the method of meta-analysis or integrating the results of research. Among 34 studies, 15 studies that met the inclusion criteria were meta-analyzed. The research tool was a meta-analysis checklist. The research is based on 361 samples and 15 effect sizes.

The meta-analysis results showed that the effect size of educational-psychological interventions on the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder was d=1.62. (p=0.001). The effect size according to Cohen's table had a high effect. Also, Yaquti et al.'s research (2017) under the title of design, construction and effectiveness of social animation program on communication and social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder had the highest effect size (2.34) and Heydari et al.'s research (2012) under The effectiveness of the intervention based on applied analysis of behavior on increasing social-communication skills and reducing stereotyped behavior in autistic children has the lowest effect size (0.7).

Considering that one of the most important problems in children with autism spectrum disorder is a deficiency in social skills, therefore, therapists in this area can use interventions that have a greater effect.