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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2020 Nov;50(11):3921-3934.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04448-w.

Attunement in Music Therapy for Young Children with Autism: Revisiting Qualities of Relationship as Mechanisms of Change

Karin Mössler  1 , Wolfgang Schmid  2   3 , Jörg Aßmus  2 , Laura Fusar-Poli  4 , Christian Gold  2
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Attunement in Music Therapy for Young Children with Autism: Revisiting Qualities of Relationship as Mechanisms of Change

Karin Mössler et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Nov.

Abstract

This study examined whether musical and emotional attunement predicts changes in improvisational music therapy with children with autism (4-7 years, N = 101, majority: no/limited speech, low IQ), assessed over 12 months. Attunement, as observed from session videos, and changes in generalized social skills, judged by blinded assessors and parents, were evaluated using standardized tools (Assessment of the Quality of Relationship, Improvisational Music Therapy Principles, ADOS, SRS). In contrast to the smaller pilot, we did not find significant effects between attunement and changes in outcomes, only tendencies in the same direction are observed. Findings suggest that symptom severity is associated with the therapist's ability to attune to the child. They further raise questions concerning outcome selection and user involvement.

Keywords: Affect; Attunement; Body; Child and parent perspectives; Restricted and repetitive behavior; Sensory processing.

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Conflict of interest statement

JA and LFP have no conflicts of interest to disclose. KM, WS, and CG are clinically trained music therapists.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the child’s and the therapist’s AQR modi over the course of therapy. AQR assessment of the quality of relationship
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of the child’s and the therapist’s AQR modi over the course of therapy within the two intervention groups. AQR assessment of the quality of relationship
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Joint frequency distribution of the child’s and the therapist’s AQR modi. Bubbles indicate frequency of occurrence of each combination of AQR modi across all weeks; the area of the bubbles is proportional to the number of sequences. For the highest frequencies, the number is shown within the bubble
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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