As an emerging comprehensive therapeutic approach, music therapy has been increasingly applied and valued in the rehabilitation of children with autism. However, studies on the intervention effects of music therapy on the psychological functions of children with autism remain insufficient.

To analyze the intervention efficacy of music therapy on core psychological symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

A total of 66 children with ASD who received rehabilitation training at Qihong Special Children Training and Education Center in Jiang'an District, Wuhan, from March to July 2025 were enrolled as research subjects. They were randomly divided into the control group and the observation group using the random number table method, with 33 cases in each group. The control group received routine rehabilitation treatment intervention, while the observation group received additional music therapy on the basis of routine rehabilitation training. The intervention duration for both groups was 16 weeks. Before intervention, 8 weeks and 16 weeks after intervention, the therapeutic effects of the two groups were evaluated and compared using the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS).

All 66 children with ASD completed the study without dropout. There were no significant differences in gender and age between the two groups (P>0.05). Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant interactive effects of group and time on CARS and ATEC scores (P_Interaction<0.05). Both group and time exerted significant main effects on CARS and ATEC scores (P_Group<0.05, P_Time<0.05). After 16 weeks of intervention, the CARS and ATEC scores of children in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Intra-group comparison revealed that in the observation group, the CARS and ATEC scores after 8 weeks of intervention were lower than those before intervention, and the scores after 16 weeks of intervention were further lower than those before intervention and after 8 weeks of intervention (P<0.05). In the control group, the CARS and ATEC scores after 8 weeks and 16 weeks of intervention were significantly lower than those before intervention, and the scores after 16 weeks of intervention were lower than those before intervention and after 8 weeks of intervention (P<0.05). Interactive effects of group and time were observed on the subscores of ATEC including language, social interaction, behavior and cognition (P_Group<0.05). The main effects of group on ATEC language, social interaction and behavior subscores were significant (P_Interaction<0.05), whereas no significant main effect of group was found on cognitive subscores (P_Group>0.05). Time showed significant main effects on all ATEC subscores (language, social interaction, behavior and cognition) (P_Time<0.05). After 16 weeks of intervention, the ATEC subscores of language, social interaction, behavior and cognition in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Intra-group comparison indicated that in the observation group, all ATEC subscores after 8 weeks of intervention were lower than baseline, and further decreased after 16 weeks of intervention (P<0.05). In the control group, only the ATEC language and social interaction subscores after 8 weeks and 16 weeks of intervention were significantly lower than baseline, and the scores after 16 weeks were superior to those after 8 weeks (P<0.05). The clinical total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group [93.9% (31/33) vs 54.5% (18/33)] (χ²=5.356, P<0.05).

Compared with routine rehabilitation therapy, music therapy can better improve the language ability, social interaction, behavioral performance and cognitive function of children with ASD.