The Effectiveness of the Snug Vest on Stereotypic Behaviors in Children Diagnosed With an Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Inflatable snug vests do not reduce stereotypy in children with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Three children with autism wore an inflatable Snug Vest. The vest puffs up to give a tight squeeze.
The team used an alternating-treatments design. Some days the vest was inflated, some days it was not. They counted stereotypic movements during each condition.
What they found
Stereotypy stayed the same on vest days and no-vest days. The snug pressure did not help any child.
How this fits with other research
Hodgetts et al. (2011) ran a larger classroom trial with weighted vests. They also saw zero change in motor stereotypy. Together the two studies show wearable pressure, heavy or inflatable, is not useful.
Tabeshian et al. (2022) got the opposite result. Twelve weeks of Tai Chi classes cut stereotypy by about one quarter. The difference is method: active movement versus passive squeeze.
Gehrman et al. (2017) used the same alternating-treatments design but tested DRO. Both DRO types quickly slashed stereotypy. The snug vest failed even with the same strong design, so the fault lies in the vest, not the method.
Why it matters
You can stop buying or recommending pressure vests. Two studies now say they do nothing. Save your budget for movement-based or behavioral options that have data behind them.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Various reviews of the effects of sensory integration therapy (SIT) have concluded that such interventions fail to reduce stereotypy. However, a new, and as yet untested, SIT iteration, an inflatable wearable vest known as the Snug Vest purports to decrease such repetitive behavior. In the current study, three children who emitted different forms of stereotypy participated in an alternating treatments design in which each participant wore a fully inflated vest and either a fully deflated vest or no vest. The results of the study show that the Snug Vest failed to reduce any participants' stereotypy. We highlight our findings in the context of professional practice and discuss several potential limitations.
Behavior modification, 2014 · doi:10.1177/0145445514532128