The effects of an integrated sports and arts intervention on response joint attention (RJA) eye-movement characteristics in children with mild autism

This study examines whether integrating sports and arts interventions enhances response joint attention (RJA) in children with mild autism and provides insights for diversifying intervention strategies for autism. 2024.6–2024.12,Twenty-four children with autism, aged 6–12 years, were recruited from an autism association in Anhui Province, China. Participants were randomized using a computer-generated sequence (allocation concealed from assessors) assigned to an experimental group (n = 12) or a control group (n = 12). Over 12 weeks, the experimental group participated in basketball and drawing lessons four times a week for 60 min per session, while the control group engaged only in routine activities and structured teaching provided by their school and the association. RJA performance was assessed pre- and post-intervention using eye-tracking technology, analyzing key metrics: time to first fixation (TFF), fixation count (FC), total fixation duration (TFD), total visit duration (TVD), visit count (VC), and the ratio of correct to incorrect for first responses. Post-intervention, the experimental group showed significantly greater improvements in RJA performance than the control group. Key metrics for the experimental group included TFF (0.52 ± 0.79), FC (36.35 ± 6.34), TFD (11.05 ± 1.33), TVD (17.05 ± 2.33), VC (24.25 ± 2.49), and correct-to-incorrect ratio (1.1 ± 0.1), all of which outperformed the control group: TFF (0.59 ± 0.11), FC (30.83 ± 2.14), TFD (9.47 ± 1.38), TVD (15.42 ± 1.51), VC (20.33 ± 1.87), and correct-to-incorrect ratio (0.97 ± 0.08),partialη2 ranged from 0.25 to 0.78, with P < 0.05. Integrating sports and arts interventions significantly improves RJA in children with autism, highlighting the potential of these methods in enhancing attention-related behaviors.