Table 2.
Overview of the studies included in the review
| Author and year | Full sample size (M, F) | Age span (mean, SD) | Clinical anxiety screening? | IQ screening? | IQ (mean, SD) | Comparison | Outcome measures | Intervention type | Individual or group sessions? | Family involvement in sessions? | Delivery format | Subsequent follow‐up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chalfant, Rapee, and Carroll (2007) | 47 (35, 12) | 8–13 years (10.8, 1.4) | Yes, ADIS | No, referral documentation for age appropriate language skills | IT v WLC/TAU | RCMAS | CBT: Cool Kids with modification for HFA | Group | Yes | Face to face | None | |
| SCAS‐P | ||||||||||||
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| Clarke, Hill, and Charman (2017) | 28 (28, 0) | 11–14 years (12.7, 0.8) | No, teacher report | Yes, WASI | IT: 97.71 (11.37) | IT v WLC/TAU | SCAS‐P | CBT: Exploring Feelings | Group | No | Face to face | 6/8 weeks |
| WLC: 106.57 (13.93) | SCAS‐C | |||||||||||
| Conaughton, Donovan, and March (2017) | 42 (36, 6) | 8–12 years (9.7, 1.3) | Yes, ADIS | No, required to read and write English at 8‐year‐old level | IT v WLC/TAU | SCAS‐P | CBT: BRAVE Online | Individual | No | Computer (online) | 3 months | |
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| Corbett, Blain, Ioannou, and Balser (2017) | 30 (24, 6) | 8–14 years (11.0, 2.2) | No | Yes, WASI (IQ ≥ 70) | IT: 106.06 (16.83) | IT v WLC/TAU | STAI‐C | Social Emotional Neuro Science Endocrinology (SENSE) Theater therapy | Group | No | Face to face | None |
| WLC: 95.85 (21.19) | ||||||||||||
| Fujii et al. (2013) | 12 (9, 3) | 7–11 years (8.8, 1.6) | Yes, ADIS | No, exclusion criteria of IQ < 70 | IT v WL/TAU | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: Building Confidence with modification for ASD | Individual | Yes | Face to face | None | |
| Hepburn, Blakeley‐Smith, Wolff, and Reaven (2016) | 33 (27, 6) | 7–19 years (11.8, 2.3) | Yes, SCARED | No | categories only reported | IT v Comparison (not strictly WL as recruited later) | SCARED‐P | CBT: Facing Your Fears Telehealth delivery (videoconferencing) | Group | Yes | Video conference | None |
| Luxford, Hadwin, and Kovsoff (2017) | 35 (31, 4) | 11–15 years (13.2, 1.1) | Yes, SAS or Spence | Yes, WASI (FIQ and VIQ ≥ 70) | IT: 105.44 (17.83) | IT v WLC/TAU | SCAS‐C | CBT: Exploring feelings | Group | No | Face to face | 6 weeks |
| WLC: 102 (11.30) | SCAS‐P | |||||||||||
| SWQ‐C | ||||||||||||
| MacKinnon, Comerford, Parham, and Roberts (2014) | 24 (20, 4) | 9–17 years (12.4, 1.8) | Yes, ADIS | No | 4 participants described as having “mild ID,” no further information | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐P | CBT: Cool Kids with modifications for ASD/ID | Group | Yes | Face to face | None |
| SCAS‐P | ||||||||||||
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| McConachie et al. (2014) | 32 (28, 4) | 9–13 years (11.8, 1.4) | Yes, ADIS | Yes, WAI (FIQ > 69) | T: 100.5 (17.2) | IT v WL/TAU | ADIS‐C | CBT: Exploring Feelings, inclusion of additional introductory session | Group | Yes | Face to face | 6 months and 9 months |
| WLC: 100.7 (12.0) | SCAS‐P | |||||||||||
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| McNally Keehn, Lincoln, Brown, and Chavira (2013) | 22 (21, 1) | 8–14 years (11.3, 1.5) | Yes, ADIS | Yes, WASI (FIQ ≥ 70) | IT: 108.42 (17.7) | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐P | CBT: Coping Cat, with modifications for ASD | Group | Yes | Face to face | 2 months |
| WLC: 110.40 (17.39) | SCAS‐P | |||||||||||
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| Murphy et al. (2017) | 36 (22, 14) | 12–18 years (15.3, 1.8) | Yes, ADIS | No, required main‐stream school attend‐ance (de facto IQ > 7) | Not reported | CBT v alt treatment (counseling) | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention for adolescents with ASD (MASSI) | Group(+ some individual) | No | Face to face | 3 months |
| CASI‐Anx | ||||||||||||
| Ohan et al. (2016) | 24 (18, 6) | 8–12 years (9.1, 1.2) | Yes, SCARED | No, exclusion of comorbid ID based on family report | Not reported | IT v WLC/TAU | CALIS‐P | CBT: Cool Kids adaptation for ASD, further adapted to reduce number of sessions to fit with school term | Group | Yes | Face to face | None |
| CALIS‐C | ||||||||||||
| SCAS‐C | ||||||||||||
| SCAS‐P | ||||||||||||
| Piravej, Tangtrongchitr, Chandarasiri, Paothong, and Sukprasong (2009) | 60 (49, 11) | 3–10 years (4.7, 1.8) | No | No | Not reported | TTM + SI v SI | CPRS | Thai traditional massage | Individual | No (presence only) | Face to face | None |
| Pryor (2016) | 24 (22, 2) | 7–17 years (12.3, 2.4) | Yes, ADIS | Yes, WASI (VIQ ≥ 70) | Group 1: | CCAL v social skills intervention (TSE), cross‐over | ADIS‐P | CBT: CCAL, computer‐assisted | Individual | No | Computer | None |
| FIQ: 91.67 (12.32); VIQ: 88.75 (11.83) | MASC‐C | |||||||||||
| Group 2 | MASC‐P | |||||||||||
| FIQ: 102. 58 (12.67); | SCAS‐C | |||||||||||
| VIQ: 100.33 (11.50) | SCAS‐P | |||||||||||
| Reaven et al. (2009) | 33 (26, 7) | 8–14 years (11.8, 1.9) | Yes, SCARED | Yes, WASI FIQ ≥ 70, initial VIQ ≥ 80 but revised to “spontaneous, functional verbal language of the complexity required to complete Module III of the ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule).” If WISC‐IV conducted within past 2 years, WASI not performed | Total sample: FIQ: 102.46 (16.22); VIQ: 102.65 (19.51); Non‐VIQ: 101.76 (15.07). No group comparison presented. | IT v WLC/TAU | SCARED‐C | CBT: manual | Group | Yes | Face to face | None |
| SCARED‐P | ||||||||||||
| Reaven, Blakeley‐Smith, Culhane‐Shelburne, and Hepburn (2012) | 50 (48, 2) | 7–14 years (10.4, 1.7) | Yes, SCARED | Yes, WASI (if not assessed in past 3 years) initial VIQ ≥ 80 but subjects with VIQ < 80 evaluated for participation and 3 included | IT: FIQ: 107.80 916.85); VIQ: 107.00 (19.51); Non‐VIQ: 109.67 (16.38). TAU: FIQ: 102.23 (17.33); VIQ: 100.73 (18.98); Non‐VIQ: 105.04 (17.86). | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐P | CBT: Facing Your Fears | Group | Yes | Face to face | 3 months and 6 months |
| Sofronoff, Attwood, and Hinton (2005) | 71 (62, 9) | 10–12 years (10.6, 1.1) | Yes, SCAS and SCAS‐P. SCAS dropped as outcome measure | No requirements for inclusion stated, short‐form WISC‐III IQs reported | IT child only: | IT child only v IT parent + child v WLC/TAU | SCAS‐P | CBT: brief | Group | No (Group 1) | Face to face | 6 weeks |
| FIQ: 107.5 (27.3) | Yes (Group 2) | |||||||||||
| IT parent + child: | ||||||||||||
| FIQ: 105.6 (21.2) | ||||||||||||
| WLC: FIQ: 101.0 (27.2) | ||||||||||||
| Storch et al. (2013) | 45 (36, 9) | 7–11 years (8.9, 1.3) | Yes, ADIS | No, exclusion criteria of FIQ or VIQ < 70 (parental report during enrollment) | Not reported | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: Behavioral Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism (BIACA) | Individual | Yes | Face to face | 3 months |
| MASC‐P | ||||||||||||
| PARS | ||||||||||||
| RCMAS | ||||||||||||
| Storch et al. (2015) | 31 (25, 6) | 11–16 years (12.7, 1.3) | Yes, ADIS‐IV‐C/P | No, exclusion criteria of WASI IQ < 80 (parental report during enrollment, no report of conducting screening) | Not reported | IT v TAU | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: BIACA modified for adolescents | Individual | Yes | Face to face | 1 month |
| MASC‐P | ||||||||||||
| PARS | ||||||||||||
| RCADS | ||||||||||||
| Sung et al. (2011) | 70 (66, 4) | 9–16 years (11.2, 1.8) | Yes, SCAS‐C | Yes, WISC‐IV Verbal Comprehension ≥ 80 and Perceptual Reasoning ≥ 90 | CBT: Verbal Comp: 100.25 (13.97)* sig diff to SR group; Perceptual Reasoning: 108.00 (12.26) | CBT v social recreation program | SCAS‐C | CBT: elements of Coping Cat, Exploring Feelings, and unpublished programs, modified for Asian cultural context | Group | No | Face to face | 3 months and 6 months |
| SR: Verbal Comp: 93.06 (12.81); Perceptual Reasoning: 105.94 (11.07) | ||||||||||||
| van Steensel and Bögels (2015) | 79 (58, 21) | 7–18 years (11.8, 2.7) | Yes, ADIS‐C/P | No, inclusion criteria of ≥70 stated but estimated based on school progression (in case of poor school performance, IQ was assessed but found to still be >70) | Not reported | CBT ASD + AD v AD only, ASD + AD pre‐post | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: Discussing + Doing = Daring | Individual | Yes | Face to face | 3 months, 1 year and 2 years |
| SCARED‐C | ||||||||||||
| SCARED‐P | ||||||||||||
| White et al. (2013) | 30 (23, 7) | 12–17 years (14.6, 1.5) | Yes, ADIS‐C/P | Yes, inclusion criteria of current VIQ ≥ 70 and no previous diagnosis of ID (WASI subscales of Vocabulary and Similarities conducted as confirmation) | IT: | IT v WLC/TAU | CASI‐Anx | CBT: MASSI | Group (+ some individual) | Yes | Face to face | None |
| VIQ: 100.07 (16.49) | PARS | |||||||||||
| WLC: | ||||||||||||
| VIQ: 94.07 (11.92) | ||||||||||||
| Wood et al. (2009) | 40 (27, 13) | 7–11 years (9.2, 1.5) | Yes, ADIS‐C/P | Exclusion criteria of VIQ < 70 (previous assessment or WISC/IV at intake) | Not reported | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: Building Confidence with modifications | Individual | Yes | Face to face | 3 months |
| MASC‐P | ||||||||||||
| MASC‐C | ||||||||||||
| Wood et al. (2015) | 33 (23, 10) | 11–15 years (12.3, 1.1) | Yes, ADIS‐IV‐C/P | Inclusion criteria on of WISC‐IV FIQ ≥ 85, evaluated if no current (3 years) documentation | Not reported | IT v WLC/TAU | ADIS‐CRS | CBT: BIACA | Individual | Yes | Face to face | 1 month |
| MASC‐P | ||||||||||||
| PARS | ||||||||||||
| RCADS |
Abbreviations: ADIS, Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule; ASD, autism spectrum disorder; CASI‐Anx, Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index; CALIS, Child Anxiety Life Interference Scale; CBT, cognitive behavioral therapy; CCAL, Camp Cope‐A‐Lot; CPRS, Conners’ Parent Rating Scales; FIQ, full scale IQ; IT, intervention group; MASC, Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children; PARS, Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale; RCADS, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale; RCMAS, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale; SCARED, Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders; SCAS, Spence Child Anxiety Scale; STAI‐C, State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children; SWQ, Social Worries Questionnaire; TAU, treatment as usual; VIQ, verbal IQ; WASI, Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence; WISC, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; WLC, wait‐list control.