The (Lack of) Effectiveness of Weighted Pressure Vests for Children with Autism

Situation 1: You've heard that weighted pressure vests may help reduce challenging behavior in children with autism, but you're not sure you believe it.

The use of weighted vests on children with autism has been studied extensively by impartial researchers. It's been determined that this strategy does not  result in significant positive effects on challenging behavior in children with autism.

When you are a caregiver for children with autism, whether they are part of your family, your classroom, or a therapy client, your goal is to use all the available resources to support their needs.  Choosing evidence-based interventions is essential to ensure the most effective strategies are used and that no valuable time is lost to ineffective, unproven interventions. In the case of weighted pressure vests, there have been a substantial number of studies that demonstrate and agree that there is no evidence of the vests effectively reducing challenging behaviors in children with autism.

Researchers who sought to determine if weighted pressure vests benefitted children with autism chose various behaviors as the target behavior. Challenging behaviors are often found to be comorbid with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as ADHD (Morrison, E. E., 2007), anxiety (Losinski, Mickey et al., 2017), self-injurious behavior (Doughty & Doughty, 2008), sensory processing problems (Morrison, E. E., 2007; Case-Smith, et al, 2015), and stereotypic behavior (also known as stimming or repetitive behavior) (Morrison, E. E.,2007; Watkins, et al, 2014)). Researchers targeting each of these behaviors have found that weighted pressure vests have not proven positive outcomes in children with ASD.

Refer to the matrix below for more details for each study.

 

Situation 2: You're convinced that weighted pressure vests help reduce challenging behavior such as anxiety and stereotypic behavior in children with autism.

There is a widely spread false belief that weighted pressure vests reduce challenging behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This blog is one of many examples of how misinformation continues to be shared, in spite of an abundance of research that has disputed the belief and determined there is no evidence to prove any positive outcome by implementing this intervention. 

Neurodivergent Insights
https://neurodivergentinsights.com/blog/weighted-vests-autism#:~:text=Weighted%20vests%20are%20especially%20beneficial,regulation%20by%20providing%20proprioception%20input.

The internet has simplified the spread of misinformation by well-meaning individuals and by individuals seeking monetary gain, alike. As provided in this blog, there is often very little free information but plenty of opportunities to purchase products that promise results. However, researchers publish peer-reviewed articles detailing scientific information in scholarly journals, following the rigorous methods required for evidentiary proof of effectiveness or as in the case of weighted vests… the lack of evidentiary proof of effectiveness. 

                                                                                                                                                                Researchers who sought to determine if weighted pressure vests benefitted children with autism chose various behaviors as the target behavior. Challenging behaviors are often found to be comorbid with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as ADHD (Morrison, E. E., 2007), anxiety (Losinski, Mickey et al., 2017), self-injurious behavior (Doughty & Doughty, 2008), sensory processing problems (Morrison, E. E., 2007; Case-Smith, et al, 2015), and stereotypic behavior (also known as stimming or repetitive behavior) (Morrison, E. E.,2007; Watkins, et al, 2014)). Researchers targeting each of these behaviors have found that weighted pressure vests have not proven positive outcomes in children with ASD.

Families and caregivers of children with autism need effective, evidence-based strategies to support children with autism at home. When social media, news outlets, or bloggers promote products or equipment with the promise of making it easier to support their children, parents optimistically and eagerly want to believe the promises. Regardless of the numerous studies which have shown no evidence of effectiveness, the desire and willingness to try the product in hopes that there will be a positive outcome is powerful. When therapists tout weighted-pressure vests as a way to calm children with ASD, caregivers expect to be able to trust their professional advice. But is it scientifically-proven advice?

There have been studies that found one participant in the group of participants benefitted in some way from wearing the vest, which can give a caregiver hope. Rather than reading the headlines, caregivers must read the entire article to uncover all the facts.  For example, were all the participants children with autism? Bodison, et al (2018) found some limited evidence of effectiveness in increased participation in the classroom, for children with attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder. However, there was no significant reduction of challenging behavior found in children with autism.

When choosing an intervention to benefit children with autism, it's imperative that evidence-based strategies are implemented, to ensure no valuable time is spent unwisely on debunked methods.

Refer to the matrix below for more details for each study.  Please review the cited articles in the reference list to gain more understanding of the studies conducted.  Each study determined there is a lack of evidence of effectiveness when using weighted pressure vests for positive outcomes in children with autism.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Synthesis Matrix- Weighted Pressure Vests 

	Losinski, Mickey et al. (2017)	Morrison, E. E. (2007)	Case-Smith, et al (2015)	Bodison, et al (2018)	Watkins, et al (2014)	Doughty (2008)
Intervention	Weighted pressure vest	Weighted pressure vest	Weighted pressure vest	Weighted pressure vest	Weighted pressure vest	Weighted pressure vest
ASD and anxiety	3 students were studied. Mixed results. Lack of sufficient evidence of effectiveness
ASD and stereotypic behaviors		5 studies which met criteria reviewed. No evidence of effectiveness to reduce stereotypic behavior			3 children studied. Analysis of the data found no reduction of stereotypic behaviors
ASD and undesired behaviors	Not effective in reducing undesired behaviors
ASD and Sensory processing problems		One study found a positive effect for remaining seated and pressure seeking behaviors	19 studies reviewed. No evidence of positive benefit with sensory processing
ASD and ADHD		No increased focus	One study showed positive results improving attention and mixed results for distractibility	8 studies reviewed. Limited evidence of effectiveness for ADHD but not ASD behaviors
ASD and Self-injurious behavior						One 14yo participant. No difference in frequency with or without vest. No evidence of effectiveness

 

 

 

 

 

References

Bodison, Stefanie C., and L. Diane Parham. “Specific Sensory Techniques and Sensory Environmental Modifications for Children and Youth with Sensory Integration Difficulties: A Systematic Review.” The American journal of occupational therapy 72.1 (2018): 7201190040p1-7201190040p11. Web.

Case-Smith, J., Weaver, L. L., & Fristad, M. A. (2015). A systematic review of sensory processing interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 19(2), 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361313517762

Doughty, Shannon S, and Adam H Doughty. “Evaluation of Body-Pressure Intervention for Self-Injury in Autism.” Behavioral development bulletin (Philadelphia, Pa.) 14.1 (2008): 23–29. Web.

Losinski, Mickey et al. “The Effects of Deep Pressure Therapies and Antecedent Exercise on Stereotypical Behaviors of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders.” Behavioral disorders 42.4 (2017): 196–208. Web.

Morrison, E. E. (2007). A review of research on the use of weighted vests with children on the autism spectrum. Education, 127(3), 323+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A205494745/AONE?u=tall85761&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=9d1d5f52

Watkins, N., & Sparling, E. (2014). The Effectiveness of the Snug Vest on Stereotypic Behaviors in Children Diagnosed With an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behavior Modification, 38(3), 412-427.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445514532128