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Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on movement quality in autistic young adults : a superiority pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Bertilsson, Ingrid LU orcid ; Brogårdh, Christina LU ; Opheim, Arve ; Gyllensten, Amanda L. LU ; Melin, Jeanette and Hammarlund, Catharina Sjödahl LU (2026) In Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 46. p.242-250
Abstract

Introduction Autistic persons experience problems with movements and body awareness in everyday functionality, expressed in affected movement quality. Yet, there is a knowledge gap about the effects of interventions targeting these aspects in autistic persons. Objective To evaluate effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) and treatment-as-usual (TAU), compared to TAU alone on movement quality in autistic persons. Methods In this pragmatic RCT, autistic persons with no intellectual disorder, 15–30 years old and in contact with habilitation services, were randomized to an intervention group (IG) (n = 28, 22 females) or a control group (CG) (n = 29, 21 females). The IG received 12 sessions of individual BBAT and TAU, the CG received... (More)

Introduction Autistic persons experience problems with movements and body awareness in everyday functionality, expressed in affected movement quality. Yet, there is a knowledge gap about the effects of interventions targeting these aspects in autistic persons. Objective To evaluate effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) and treatment-as-usual (TAU), compared to TAU alone on movement quality in autistic persons. Methods In this pragmatic RCT, autistic persons with no intellectual disorder, 15–30 years old and in contact with habilitation services, were randomized to an intervention group (IG) (n = 28, 22 females) or a control group (CG) (n = 29, 21 females). The IG received 12 sessions of individual BBAT and TAU, the CG received TAU. Primary outcome was a person-reported measure of an individualized movement quality problem, using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Secondary outcome was Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ), i.e., scored physiotherapist observations. Between- and within-group analyses, and individual one-sided t-tests were performed. Results Comparing the between-group changes in NRS and BAS MQ after 12 weeks, the differences were statistically significant in favor of the IG (p < 0.001). Within-group analyses: the IG had statistically significant improvements on both outcomes (p < 0.001), the CG had not. Individually in the IG, 54 % of the participants improved significantly in NRS and 41 % in BAS MQ. In the CG, the corresponding numbers were 10 % and 7 %, respectively. Conclusion BBAT and TAU were superior to TAU alone for improving movement quality. BBAT is a relevant intervention for autistic young adults to improve everyday functionality. Registration Clinical Trials NCT0323876.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Autism, Autistic, Basic Body Awareness Therapy, Body awareness, Movement quality, Physiotherapy
in
Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies
volume
46
pages
9 pages
publisher
Churchill Livingstone
external identifiers
  • scopus:105022302551
  • pmid:41927180
ISSN
1360-8592
DOI
10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.11.014
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
435010fe-2dfa-44d5-8880-893571938e38
date added to LUP
2026-02-10 15:09:16
date last changed
2026-08-13 18:47:50
@article{435010fe-2dfa-44d5-8880-893571938e38,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction Autistic persons experience problems with movements and body awareness in everyday functionality, expressed in affected movement quality. Yet, there is a knowledge gap about the effects of interventions targeting these aspects in autistic persons. Objective To evaluate effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy (BBAT) and treatment-as-usual (TAU), compared to TAU alone on movement quality in autistic persons. Methods In this pragmatic RCT, autistic persons with no intellectual disorder, 15–30 years old and in contact with habilitation services, were randomized to an intervention group (IG) (n = 28, 22 females) or a control group (CG) (n = 29, 21 females). The IG received 12 sessions of individual BBAT and TAU, the CG received TAU. Primary outcome was a person-reported measure of an individualized movement quality problem, using a numeric rating scale (NRS). Secondary outcome was Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ), i.e., scored physiotherapist observations. Between- and within-group analyses, and individual one-sided t-tests were performed. Results Comparing the between-group changes in NRS and BAS MQ after 12 weeks, the differences were statistically significant in favor of the IG (p &lt; 0.001). Within-group analyses: the IG had statistically significant improvements on both outcomes (p &lt; 0.001), the CG had not. Individually in the IG, 54 % of the participants improved significantly in NRS and 41 % in BAS MQ. In the CG, the corresponding numbers were 10 % and 7 %, respectively. Conclusion BBAT and TAU were superior to TAU alone for improving movement quality. BBAT is a relevant intervention for autistic young adults to improve everyday functionality. Registration Clinical Trials NCT0323876.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bertilsson, Ingrid and Brogårdh, Christina and Opheim, Arve and Gyllensten, Amanda L. and Melin, Jeanette and Hammarlund, Catharina Sjödahl}},
  issn         = {{1360-8592}},
  keywords     = {{Autism; Autistic; Basic Body Awareness Therapy; Body awareness; Movement quality; Physiotherapy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{242--250}},
  publisher    = {{Churchill Livingstone}},
  series       = {{Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies}},
  title        = {{Effects of Basic Body Awareness Therapy on movement quality in autistic young adults : a superiority pragmatic randomized controlled trial}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.11.014}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jbmt.2025.11.014}},
  volume       = {{46}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}