A Content and Methodological Review of Self-Advocacy Intervention Studies

TLDR

The authors conducted a systematic review of 25 self‑advocacy intervention studies, analyzing each article’s purpose, participants, design, variables, results, and quality indicators across single‑subject, group experimental, and qualitative designs. The review shows that individuals of diverse ages and disabilities can acquire self‑advocacy skills through researcher‑developed interventions and published curricula, but methodological rigor remains insufficient.

Abstract

A content and methodological review of the literature of 25 self-advocacy intervention studies was conducted. First, each article was analyzed in terms of purpose, participants, design, dependent variable(s), independent variable(s), and results. Second, each manuscript was reviewed in terms of the quality indicators for single subject ( n = 11), group experimental ( n = 11), or qualitative ( n = 3) studies. Our findings (a) provide preliminary evidence that individuals of varying ages and disabilities can learn self-advocacy skills using both researcher-developed interventions and published curricula, and (b) indicate the need for increasing methodological rigor in implementing and reporting self-advocacy intervention studies. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research and instruction.