This meta-analysis aggregated and analyzed the research in studying the pretest-posttest outcomes of VR-based interventions for children and young adults with ASD. Seven studies published between 2009 and 2019 with a total of 150 participants were included. Outcome measures of social competences were classified into 5 categories. The random-effects model of the current meta-analysis showed that the average effect of VR-based intervention as follows: social skills(g = .59, SE = .12, 95% CI: .35–.82), emotion recognition(g =. 50, SE = .16, 95% CI: .19–.82), attention(g = .35, SE = .14, 95% CI: .07–.63), executive function(g = .52, SE = .12, 95% CI: .28–.77) and conversational skills(g = .46, SE = .21, 95% CI: .05–.88). The implication for VR-based intervention s for ASD was discussed with respect to environmental factor such as age, ASD functioning, number of sessions, country where the study conducted and additional treatment combined.

ASD, virtual reality, social skills, attention, emotion recognition, executive function, conversational skills