Study on the effectiveness of the Denver Model of Early Care for Children with Autism and at Risk of ASD. Systematic review

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Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders are a high-frequency group of developmental disorders with a wide variety in the manifestation of key symptoms. The results of numerous studies point to the extremely important role of early initiation of corrective and developmental measures in the further trajectory of the development of a child with autism. To date, the Denver Early Intervention Model, which has been implemented in the practice of providing help to children with ASD for about 25 years, is the most well-known in early intervention services. During this time, a large number of studies have been conducted and evidence of efficacy has been obtained, but the data of scientific studies are very contradictory. The purpose of this work was to review the available scientific literature reflecting the results of research on the application of the Denver model in working with children of early and early preschool age with ASD and the risk of ASD. The effects of the model are considered separately for different types of studies, from case studies to meta-analyses of data, due to differences in results. In general, the presented results of studies on the effectiveness of the Denver model indicate positive results in terms of reducing the severity of autism symptoms, developing social skills and intelligence. At the same time, there is a reduced effect on the generalization of data in meta-analyses, which may be due to the wide variety of diagnostic methods used, which examine one area of development, but reflect different aspects of it.

General Information

Keywords: autism, autism spectrum disorders, Denver model of early intervention, ESDM, proof of efficacy

Journal rubric: Medical Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2023120407

Funding. The study was conducted with the support of ANO BO “Zhuravlik” and the charity fund “Absolut-help” within the framework of the project “Systemic model of early intervention for children with autism and their family”

Received: 30.10.2023

Accepted:

For citation: Davydova E.Y., Tyushkevich S.A., Davydov D.V., Ilyunceva A.A., Uskova O.A., Movchan A.A. Study on the effectiveness of the Denver Model of Early Care for Children with Autism and at Risk of ASD. Systematic review [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2023. Vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 77–90. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2023120407. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Elizaveta Y. Davydova, PhD in Biology, Associate Professor, Leading Researcher, Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Associate Professor of the Department of Differential Psychology and Psychophysiology Faculty of “Clinical and Special Psychology”, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5192-5535, e-mail: el-davydova@mail.ru

Svetlana A. Tyushkevich, PhD in Psychology, Senior Researcher of the scientific laboratory of the Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9029-2830, e-mail: tyushkevichsv@yandex.ru

Denis V. Davydov, PhD in Biology, Leading Researcher of the Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education (MSUPE), Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0993-3803, e-mail: davydovdv@mgppu.ru

Anna N. Ilyunceva, Junior Researcher, laboratory of complex speech research in children with autism and other developmental disorders, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2966-3261, e-mail: lyuncevaaa@mgppu.ru

Olga A. Uskova, Junior Researcher, Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5878-0828, e-mail: uskovaoa@mgppu.ru

Anna A. Movchan, Junior Researcher, Federal Resource Center for Organization of Comprehensive Support to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5112-2735, e-mail: movchanaa@mgppu.ru

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