Adaptive Functioning as a Predictor of Treatment Success in the UCLA PEERS Program

Background: Social skills training is a popular method of assisting individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to improve their social competence, yet little is known about the factors that predict successful treatment outcome.

Objectives: This study was designed to examine the impact of adaptive functioning in the prediction of treatment outcome based on a manualized parent-assisted social skills treatment program for adolescents with high functioning autism or Asperger’s disorder.

Methods: 30 adolescents with ASD and their parents participated in a 12-week manualized social skills intervention as part of the UCLA PEERS Program. Parents completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale, Second Edition (Vineland-II) at pretest and the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) at pre and posttest.

Results: The change in SSRS was examined using three separate multiple regressions. In each case, posttest SSRS scores was the outcome variable, pretest SSRS scores were entered on the first step of the regression, and one of the three Vineland-II scales (Daily Living Skills, Communication, or Socialization) was entered on the second step to determine if pretest levels of adaptive functioning significantly predicted change in SSRS. Levels of adaptive functioning at pretest were not found to significantly predict change in SSRS. However, separate post-hoc analyses examining only posttest SSRS scores and adaptive functioning revealed that both Daily Living Skills (B = 0.45, SE_B = 0.20, β = .39, p = .03) and Communication Skills (B = 0.83, SE_B = 0.37, β = .39, p = .03) significantly predicted social skills functioning at posttest, but Socialization did not (B = 0.38, SE_B = 0.31, β = .22, p = .23).

Conclusions: This study sought to investigate predictors of treatment success for a parent-assisted social skills intervention.  Although adaptive behavior does not appear to predict the amount of change in improvement of social skills over the course of treatment, specific components of adaptive behavior, such as daily living skills (e.g., the ability to complete weekly socialization homework assignments) and communication skills (e.g., the ability to carry on a conversation), do appear to predict level of social skills functioning following treatment.