Examining Behavioral Interventions for Infancy and Early Toddlerhood: A Systematic Review of Intervention Effects, Parameters, and Participants.

Rapid advancement is paving the way to identify children who would likely benefit from early intervention during the first years of life, prior to the onset of significant delays in development. With the widely acknowledged benefits of early intervention, key questions arise: Does behavioral interve...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders Vol. 56; no. 10; pp. 3787 - 3828
Autores principales: Simacek, Jessica J., Riegelman, Amy, Gunderson, Jaclyn, Worthley, Emma, Dimian, Adele F., Chaxiong, Pang, Wolff, Jason J.
Formato: research systematic review tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Oct2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Rapid advancement is paving the way to identify children who would likely benefit from early intervention during the first years of life, prior to the onset of significant delays in development. With the widely acknowledged benefits of early intervention, key questions arise: Does behavioral intervention targeted to infancy and early toddlerhood improve developmental outcomes? What procedures might be used, and under what circumstances? Who do these interventions work for? The current review comprehensively examined the literature on behavioral interventions based in operant learning, focused on key developmental areas with children in the first two years of life. We located and synthesized 69 studies with unique participant cohorts that included 1735 children. The search revealed many studies focused on the first year of life, of which a large proportion investigated approaches to increase communication. We provide implications, limitations, and future directions on how behavioral interventions for infants and young toddlers can inform current practice and future intervention research this population.