ArticleBMJ open2026
Effects of music therapy and music-movement interventions on social withdrawal, parent-child relationship and happiness in children with autism spectrum disorder: a protocol for systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionChildren with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience challenges in social interaction, emotional regulation and parent-child bonding, which can negatively impact overall well-being and happiness. Music therapy, particularly when integrated with movement-based interventions, such as piano training, is increasingly recognised as a promising non-pharmacological approach to enhance social engagement and improve psychological outcomes in this population. Although multiple primary studies and pilot trials have been conducted, the evidence remains fragmented and inconsistent. To date, no comprehensive systematic review has synthesised the effects of music-based interventions on (1) social withdrawal, (2) parent-child relationship quality and (3) subjective happiness in children with ASD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols guidelines. A systematic search will be conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data from inception to May 2026. Eligible studies will include randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies evaluating music or music-movement interventions for children with ASD. The primary outcome is social withdrawal, whereas the secondary outcomes are the parent-child relationship and overall happiness assessed using validated measures. Data extraction and risk-of-bias assessments will be conducted independently by two reviewers. Where feasible, quantitative synthesis will be performed using random-effects meta-analysis. Subgroup analyses will explore the influence of age, intervention type and intervention duration. The certainty of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required as this review involves published data only. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and community reports targeting clinicians, therapists and parents. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD420251132116.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.