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Psychosocial Interventions for Employment of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

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Abstract

This study aimed to provide an updated and comprehensive review of the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for the employability of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Ten studies (423 participants) were identified in the literature. Compared to control groups, the proportion of those who could work was significantly higher among those who had participated in employment support programs and higher, but not significantly, among those who had received communication skills training. The communication skills training group had an improved communication score on employment. This systematic review showed that psychosocial interventions could increase the number of individuals with ASD who are employable and improve their communication skills for employment.

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Contributions

All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Yusuke Ogawa and Norio Watanabe. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yusuke Ogawa, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yusuke Ogawa.

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Conflict of Interest

We have the following potential conflicts of interest. All the authors have received a research grant from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan. NW has received fees from Sogen-sha and Medical review for writings, and from Advantage Risk Management for consulting.

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Ogawa, Y., Itani, O., Jike, M. et al. Psychosocial Interventions for Employment of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Rev J Autism Dev Disord 10, 38–50 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40489-021-00285-4

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