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. 2022 Jan 20;9(2):48.
doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9020048.

Effect of Short-Term Deep-Pressure Portable Seat on Behavioral and Biological Stress in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study

Ilham Yustar Afif  1   2 , Muhammad Farkhan  2 , Ojo Kurdi  2 , Mohamad Izzur Maula  1   2 , Muhammad Imam Ammarullah  1   2 , Budi Setiyana  2 , J Jamari  1   2 , Tri Indah Winarni  1   3   4
Affiliations

Effect of Short-Term Deep-Pressure Portable Seat on Behavioral and Biological Stress in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study

Ilham Yustar Afif et al. Bioengineering (Basel). .

Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have challenging behaviors, which are associated with difficulties in parenting. Deep pressure is a therapeutic modality in occupational therapy, and it was reported to produce a calming effect. This study aimed to determine whether the short-term use of an autism hug machine portable seat (AHMPS) improves behavioral and neurobiological stress in children with ASD, and to determine whether AHMPS with an inflatable wrap or manual pull is more effective. This study enrolled children with ASD who were administered with the inflatable wrap (group I) and manual pull (group II) for 20 min twice a week for 3 weeks. Conners' Parent Rating Scale-48 (CPRS-48) was used to rate behavioral improvements, and galvanic skin response (GSR) was used to measure sympathetic stress response. A total of 20 children with ASD (14 boys and 6 girls; aged 7-13 years) were included. CPRS-48 presented conduct problems: behavior was significantly decreased in the inflatable group (p = 0.007) compared to the manual pull group. The GSR captured a significant reduction in sympathetic response (p = 0.01) only in group I. Neurobiological stress was reduced in children who were wearing the AHMPS inflatable wrap; therefore, AHMPS inflatable wrap is an effective method to reduce emotional arousal.

Keywords: anxiety; autism spectrum disorders; behavioral problems; deep pressure; hug machine.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare there is no conflict of interest regarding this publication. This manuscript has not been published previously and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. This manuscript has been read and approved by all authors prior to submission.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model of AHMPS inflatable wrap (left) and manual pull (right).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Parents’ rating of behavioral improvement (pretest–posttest) among children in the inflatable group (group 1) and manual group (group II). Data with * indicate a statistically significance.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Improvement in stress response using galvanic skin response tool in group I (continuous line) and group II (dashed line) in a pre–on–post experiment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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