Effects of an Adapted Tennis Programme on Adaptive Behaviour in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome: A Pre-Post Study Using the Vineland-II.

Effects of an Adapted Tennis Programme on Adaptive Behaviour in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome: A Pre-Post Study Using the Vineland-II. | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effects of an Adapted Tennis Programme on Adaptive Behaviour in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome: A Pre-Post Study Using the Vineland-II. Leonardo Zoccante, Marco Zaffanello, Filippo Tasinato, Alice Lonardi, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7760445/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Introduction Asperger’s syndrome, included in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) according to the DSM-5, is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Although interest in using structured physical activity as an habilitative tool for individuals with ASD is growing, there is still limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of individual sports such as tennis. Objective To assess the effectiveness of a structured tennis-based sports intervention in adults diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (VABS-II). Methods Sixteen adults diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (mean age: 20.4 ± 7.7 years) participated in a five-week tennis program, consisting of two sessions per week. Adaptive functioning in the domains of communication, daily living skills, and socialization was assessed with VABS-II before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention. Statistical analysis included paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA to control for the effects of age and baseline functioning level. Results A significant improvement was observed in the communication domain (p = 0.026), with a mean increase of +1.81 points. No statistically significant changes were found in the other domains. ANCOVA confirmed that the baseline score was the main predictor of post-treatment outcome across all domains. Age did not appear to be an influencing factor, except for a trend toward significance in the daily living skills domain (p = 0.058). Conclusions Tennis, as a structured and rule-based individual physical activity that also encourages turn-taking, proved effective in promoting improvements in communication skills in adults with level 1 ASD. These findings are consistent with previous literature on other forms of physical activity and support the inclusion of sport in educational and rehabilitative programs for this population. Further studies with larger samples and controlled designs are warranted to confirm these results and explore the underlying mechanisms. Adult Autism Autism Spectrum Disorder Asperger Syndrome Adaptive Behaviour Communication Motor-Based Interventions Psychoeducational Programme Tennis Intervention Social Skills Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS-II). Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7760445","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":588670052,"identity":"486bee4a-0f9e-4f0b-8fea-c6f7c19b9566","order_by":0,"name":"Leonardo Zoccante","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Azienda ULSS 9 Scaligera","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leonardo","middleName":"","lastName":"Zoccante","suffix":""},{"id":588670053,"identity":"69df0257-15f5-4282-a64f-e4aba0fbc3e0","order_by":1,"name":"Marco 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Behaviour, Communication, Motor-Based Interventions, Psychoeducational Programme, Tennis Intervention, Social Skills, Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS-II).","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7760445/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7760445/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIntroduction\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAsperger’s syndrome, included in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) according to the DSM-5, is characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. Although interest in using structured physical activity as an habilitative tool for individuals with ASD is growing, there is still limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of individual sports such as tennis.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjective\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo assess the effectiveness of a structured tennis-based sports intervention in adults diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition (VABS-II).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSixteen adults diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (mean age: 20.4 ± 7.7 years) participated in a five-week tennis program, consisting of two sessions per week. Adaptive functioning in the domains of communication, daily living skills, and socialization was assessed with VABS-II before (T0) and after (T1) the intervention. Statistical analysis included paired-samples t-tests and ANCOVA to control for the effects of age and baseline functioning level.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA significant improvement was observed in the communication domain (p = 0.026), with a mean increase of +1.81 points. No statistically significant changes were found in the other domains. ANCOVA confirmed that the baseline score was the main predictor of post-treatment outcome across all domains. Age did not appear to be an influencing factor, except for a trend toward significance in the daily living skills domain (p = 0.058).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTennis, as a structured and rule-based individual physical activity that also encourages turn-taking, proved effective in promoting improvements in communication skills in adults with level 1 ASD. These findings are consistent with previous literature on other forms of physical activity and support the inclusion of sport in educational and rehabilitative programs for this population. Further studies with larger samples and controlled designs are warranted to confirm these results and explore the underlying mechanisms.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effects of an Adapted Tennis Programme on Adaptive Behaviour in Adults with Asperger’s Syndrome: A Pre-Post Study Using the Vineland-II.","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-13 18:04:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7760445/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"79ce42b4-9b23-4197-b938-20ab20c62c40","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 13th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Rejected","date":"2026-05-02T16:07:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-02T16:24:05+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-13 18:04:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7760445","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7760445","identity":"rs-7760445","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}