The Efficacy of Virtual Reality for Social Skills in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Umbrella Systematic Review
Navisa Abbasi, Borhan Badali, Azra Daei, Zeinab MohammadzadehIntroduction
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent difficulties in social communication and interaction. Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising technology for supporting social skill development in children with ASD. This umbrella review synthesizes evidence from existing systematic reviews to evaluate the effectiveness of VR‐based interventions in improving social functioning among children aged 3–15 years.
Methods
This review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for umbrella reviews and adhered to PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The methodological quality of the included reviews was assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist. Six systematic reviews met the eligibility criteria.
Results
VR‐based interventions were associated with improvements across three key social skill domains in children and adolescents with ASD: social interaction (e.g., turn‐taking and joint attention), communication skills (e.g., verbal and nonverbal expression), and social understanding (e.g., emotion recognition and perspective‐taking). Overall, the strength of the evidence was moderate, largely due to heterogeneity in study quality, intervention characteristics, and outcome measures across the included reviews. Although findings were generally positive, variability in methodologies and reporting limits the ability to draw firm conclusions. Therefore, VR may be considered a potentially supportive approach for social skills training; however, further standardization of outcome measures is required before clinical recommendations can be made.
Conclusion
VR‐based interventions show promise for improving social skills in children with ASD; however, the current evidence remains limited and heterogeneous, primarily based on systematic reviews of varying methodological quality. Future research should prioritize long‐term follow‐up, real‐world generalization, and the development of standardized intervention protocols and outcome measures to strengthen the evidence base and support clinical translation.