A Systematic Review Evaluating the Implementation of Technologies to Assess, Monitor and Treat Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Map of the Current Evidence

Clinical Psychology Review

Valentine, A. Z., Brown, B. J., et al. (2020).

Clinical Psychology Review, 80, Article 101870.

This systematic review investigates the effects, cost-effectiveness, and user acceptability of a variety of technology interventions or technological equipment (e.g., tablets, mobile applications, gaming, virtual reality) for assessing, diagnosing, monitoring, or treating individuals with a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, communication disorders, intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities). This summary highlights conclusions of interest to speech-language pathologists.

Not stated

January 2014 to August 2019

No restrictions on study design. Papers needed to report data and relevant outcomes.

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<p class="MsoNormal">For children on the autism spectrum, studies investigating a variety of technology interventions or technological equipment found some evidence of efficacy.</p> <ul> <li class="MsoNormal">Serious games improved child outcomes (e.g., social interactions, responding to greetings, emotional awareness). The authors described these interventions as acceptable.</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Tablets and mobile applications demonstrated mixed effectiveness in a range of outcomes (e.g., requesting skills, varied play, improved parent-child communication). The authors identified these interventions as user-friendly.</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Video modeling improved social communication in small samples of children.</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Robots showed some clinical effectiveness in increasing social interactions and child engagement during intervention sessions.</li> <li class="MsoNormal">Virtual reality interventions demonstrated some effects on attention and spatial cognition skills of children.</li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal">Overall, the authors highlight that these interventions require additional research on their efficiency, economic impact, acceptability, and clinical effectiveness.</p>

For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, studies investigating a variety of technology interventions (e.g., serious games, video modeling, virtual reality) reported some positive outcomes (e.g., increased social skills, reduced distractibility and impulsivity). The authors conclude that additional research using larger sample sizes is needed.