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ABSTRACT
Purpose: To assess the generalizability of findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating emotion recognition (ER) training for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: We present a systematic review and narrative synthesis of the determinants of external validity in RCTs on ER training. Generalizability of the findings across situations, populations, settings, treatment delivery, and intervention formats was considered. Results: We identified 13 eligible studies. Participants were predominantly boys with ASD in the normative IQ range (IQ > 70), with an age span from 4 to 18 years across studies. Interventions and outcome measures were highly variable. Several studies indicated that training may improve ER, but it is still largely unknown to what extent training effects are translated to daily social life. Conclusion: The generalizability of findings from currently available RCTs remains unclear. This underscores the importance of involving children with ASD and their caregivers in informed treatment decisions.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Klas Moberg for his assistance with the literature search. The FEFA is distributed by the Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), headed by Sven Bölte, against compensation, which is used for maintenance and support of the instrument.
Declaration of interest
Sven Bölte has authored the Frankfurt Test and Training of Facial Affect Recognition (FEFA) mentioned in this review. The remaining authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.