Siblings as Interventionists: A Systematic Review of Sibling-Mediated Interventions for Children with Autism

Abstract

The current review evaluated 11 peer-reviewed or dissertation studies whose primary independent variable was a treatment package designed to teach typically developing children strategies to improve the academic or social functioning of their siblings with autism. The author operationalized the quality indicators created by Horner et al. (2005), which outlined 21 items that define rigorous single-subject research and applied them to each study. Each of the 11 studies’ outcomes was then evaluated based on a definition by Ferguson et al. (2019) in order to standardize how the results of the studies were described. Furthermore, every study was analyzed based on participant demographics (e.g., age, sex and diagnosis), research design, independent variables, components of the training program, dependent variables, generalization, and maintenance. The results indicate that the average percent rigor of the sibling-mediated intervention literature is 77%. The most common item excluded in, both, peer-reviewed and dissertation articles was procedural fidelity. The most common components included in the sibling training treatment packages were verbal instruction and role-play. Also, most studies used a multiple-baseline design and achieved either positive or mixed results. No studies obtained negative results, which may indicate that children are able to be trained as interventionists for their siblings with autism or that studies with negative results are not published or accepted as dissertations. Implications for future research are discussed.