A systematic review of peer-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder

• There are only five group design, school-based, peer-mediated interventions to date.
• Four out of the five peer-mediated intervention are rated as “high” or “adequate” quality.
• The review highlights the need in five areas for peer mediated interventions: children who are minimally verbal, middle and high school students, structured peer training, implementation fidelity, and generalization and sustainment of skills.

BackgroundPeer mediated intervention (PMI) is a promising practice used to increase social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). PMIs engage typically developing peers as social models to improve social initiations, responses, and interactions.MethodThe current study is a systematic review examining PMIs for children and adolescents with ASD conducted using group designs. Five studies met the pre-specified review inclusion criteria: four randomized controlled trials and one pre- and post-test design.ResultsFour of the studies were conducted in school settings, whereas one study was conducted in a camp setting. The studies all reported that participants improved in social skills (e.g., social initiations, social responses, social communication) post intervention. Additionally, sustainment, generalization, and fidelity of implementation were examined.ConclusionPMI is a promising approach to address social skills in children with ASD, and this approach can be conducted in meaningful real-word contexts, such as schools. Limitations of the studies as well as future directions are discussed.