Bethany Oakley
Roberto Canitano
Miguel López-Zamora
Noemi Mazzoni- 1Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- 2Division of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
- 3Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Malaga, Málaga, Spain
- 4Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, Novedrate, Italy
- 5Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
Editorial on the Research Topic
Advancing interventions and therapeutic outcomes for autistic youth: a multidisciplinary perspective
Current status of the field
Autistic people and their families experience barriers in access to health and social care services (1). Despite autistic traits typically becoming recognised within the first two years of life, average age of diagnosis is ∼4–5-years, with many individuals diagnosed even later and into adulthood (1–4). Missed/misdiagnosis is also common, particularly in autistic girls/women (5–7). Accurate and timely diagnosis is pivotal to accessing appropriate interventions, supporting autistic youth to strengthen skills and achieve their full potential (8).
However, the evidence-base for effective, acceptable, and accessible interventions tailored to the specific needs of autistic youth remains limited (9) - both for interventions focused on features “core” to autism that can cause distress (e.g., negative sensory experiences), and those highly co-occurring with autism (e.g., physical/mental health problems). With the aim to advance understanding of factors influencing the effectiveness of different interventions for autistic youth, this Research Topic gathers studies using integrated and multidisciplinary approaches and innovative methodologies in the field.
Advancing progress
Support delivered in early development may maximise longer-term outcomes (10–12). Currently, the most established early intervention models focus on behavioural change (13), though these are controversial due to their basis in norms for “typical development” [see (14)] and individual outcomes are also highly variable. For instance, Du et al. showed that diverse behavioural interventions may have differential effects on specific developmental outcomes (e.g., social vs. motor) and suggest that clinicians should consider child-specific needs and contextual factors in selecting a therapeutic approach.
Indeed, to progress the field, we need to move towards a more comprehensive and sensitive consideration of individual differences and community needs and priorities in defining what the targets for intervention should be and how their success should be measured (15–17). Integrating perspectives of autistic young people and their parents/caregivers is thus crucial. The work of Carlsson et al. qualitatively investigates the social validity of early intervention. Parents appreciated the naturalistic and local setting of the intervention and their active participation, which provided them with new knowledge and a sense of empowerment. Results further indicated that parents also have diverse needs and value both broader autism education, and the opportunity to focus on more specific understanding of their own child and strategies to support them, as central components of intervention.
These qualitative insights resonate with the increasingly highlighted importance of actively involving parents as a “mediator” in intervention. Consistently, Carta et al. reported that augmenting traditional behavioural interventions with parental support can lead to further gains in parent-rated child outcomes, as well as reducing parental stress. Such findings emphasise the importance of family systems approaches (18), with emerging evidence that child–parent neurodevelopmental similarity can have protective effects on developmental outcomes of autistic children (19), also acknowledging that a high proportion of parents of autistic young people are neurodivergent and/or experience poor mental health themselves (20).
Further extending this holistic view, it is now apparent that autistic traits and commonly co-occurring features interact and evolve dynamically and differently within and between individuals across development (21). Consequently, no single intervention approach will be effective for all individuals, nor at all developmental stages. To address this challenge, “precision healthcare” approaches have become prominent in autism research. Here, Fradkin et al. administered 8 weeks of Transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM) therapy and assessed its effects using behavioural and EEG measurements. Results showed a reduction of clinical rated autistic traits and changes in brain activity. Although still in its infancy, this work suggests that EEG metrics may serve as a candidate biomarker that could predict who is most likely to benefit from a mechanistically targeted therapy, based on their individual needs and biological profiles, supporting prior findings (22–24).
Alongside biomarker discovery, interest in biopsychosocial models and their clinical implications in the context of autism has recently been reignited (25). In their systematic review, Yang and Li examined the impact of physical activity interventions on restricted and repetitive behaviours, tentatively suggesting that observed effects may act via sensory/regulatory pathways. Interconnection between brain and body has long been established. However, “body” is often neglected in psychological research, particularly limiting progress in the context of neurodevelopmental conditions that are highly co-occurring with physical health problems affecting daily functioning, quality of life, and mortality (26).
Shaping the future
Taken together, the research themes captured here indicate that next steps in advancing interventions and therapeutic outcomes for autistic youth include identifying and removing barriers to health and social care access to improve earlier provision of support, and reframing intervention targets to align with the needs and priorities of autistic young people and their families. Participatory approaches and involvement of underrepresented voices (e.g., autistic people with co-occurring intellectual disability, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds) in these efforts is essential (27). Interventions themselves should be adapted to the experiences of autistic people, as differential responsiveness/side effects in autistic vs. non-autistic individuals, and higher effectiveness of autism-adapted vs. standard-of-practice approaches have been highlighted (28–30). Additionally, a holistic approach addressing neurodiversity-affirmative environmental accommodations (31, 32), family support needs, and overall physical and mental health is critical to improving long-term outcomes for autistic youth.
Author contributions
BO: Writing – original draft, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. RC: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – original draft. ML-Z: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. NM: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Conceptualization.
Conflict of interest
BO reports grants unrelated to this work from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 777394 for the project AIMS-2-TRIALS. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA and AUTISM SPEAKS, Autistica, SFARI.
The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.
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Keywords: autism, children and young people, intervention, novel therapeutics, outcome
Citation: Oakley B, Canitano R, López-Zamora M and Mazzoni N (2025) Editorial: Advancing interventions and therapeutic outcomes for autistic youth: a multidisciplinary perspective. Front. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 4:1697025. doi: 10.3389/frcha.2025.1697025
Received: 1 September 2025; Accepted: 3 September 2025;
Published: 16 September 2025.
Edited and Reviewed by: Sara Calderoni, Stella Maris Foundation (IRCCS), Italy
Copyright: © 2025 Oakley, Canitano, López-Zamora and Mazzoni. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Noemi Mazzoni, bm9lbWkubWF6em9uaUB1bmllY2FtcHVzLml0