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Friday, May 8, 2009
Northwest Hall (Chicago Hilton)
1:30 PM
Background: Social skills deficits continue to be a struggle as children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) approach adolescence. Many early intervention programs for children with ASD emphasize social skills training; however, very few of these programs have been developed for older adolescents with ASD. Past research has shown promising results in the effectiveness of social skills training for adolescents with ASD, but no studies to date have examined the characteristics of adolescents with ASD who are benefitting from these programs.
Objectives: This study examines the predictors of positive social skills outcomes from the UCLA PEERS Program, a manualized, evidence-based parent-assisted social skills intervention aimed at improving social skills and friendship quality among adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger’s Disorder (AS).
Methods: Participants included 61 adolescents with HFA or AS, ranging from ages 13 to 17 (M = 14.67 years). Each participant was randomly assigned to either the treatment or the waitlist control group for the UCLA PEERS Program. Adolescents and their parents attended 12-14 weekly 90-minute group treatment sessions. In the adolescent sessions, participants were taught skills such as strategies for joining and maintaining conversations, handling bullying and teasing, being a good host during get-togethers, using electronic communications, and appropriate use of humor. During these sessions, a social skills lesson was taught and followed by role-play exercises for the adolescents to practice their newly learned skill. Concurrent in the weekly parent sessions, parents were given social coaching strategies to assist their adolescents in completing their weekly socialization homework assignments outside of group. Factor associated with parent-reported improvement on a standardized measure of social skills (SSRS) were examined across both groups.
Results: Participants were divided into two groups, based upon parent reports of adolescent social skills improvement on the SSRS following treatment. Among the 46 participants (75.4%) whose social skills improved, adolescents demonstrated increased knowledge of social skills (p < .001), better friendship quality (p < .025), and improved self-concept (p < .005). Baseline variables that appear to predict increases in social skills following treatment included adolescent self-report of popularity (p < .025) and parent-report of social skills before treatment (p < .001). Other demographic variables including age, grade, gender, ethnicity, school placement, IQ, and adaptive functioning were not correlated with positive outcomes in social skills.
Conclusions: Baseline social skills were positively correlated with treatment outcome on the SSRS; whereas adolescents’ perceptions of their popularity at baseline were negatively correlated with positive social skills outcome. These findings suggest that adolescents who have higher parent-reported social skills scores prior to the intervention may be more likely to show improvement in overall social skills following the PEERS intervention. In addition, adolescents who deem themselves to be less popular prior to the intervention may be more likely to show improvement in social skills following treatment.
Objectives: This study examines the predictors of positive social skills outcomes from the UCLA PEERS Program, a manualized, evidence-based parent-assisted social skills intervention aimed at improving social skills and friendship quality among adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger’s Disorder (AS).
Methods: Participants included 61 adolescents with HFA or AS, ranging from ages 13 to 17 (M = 14.67 years). Each participant was randomly assigned to either the treatment or the waitlist control group for the UCLA PEERS Program. Adolescents and their parents attended 12-14 weekly 90-minute group treatment sessions. In the adolescent sessions, participants were taught skills such as strategies for joining and maintaining conversations, handling bullying and teasing, being a good host during get-togethers, using electronic communications, and appropriate use of humor. During these sessions, a social skills lesson was taught and followed by role-play exercises for the adolescents to practice their newly learned skill. Concurrent in the weekly parent sessions, parents were given social coaching strategies to assist their adolescents in completing their weekly socialization homework assignments outside of group. Factor associated with parent-reported improvement on a standardized measure of social skills (SSRS) were examined across both groups.
Results: Participants were divided into two groups, based upon parent reports of adolescent social skills improvement on the SSRS following treatment. Among the 46 participants (75.4%) whose social skills improved, adolescents demonstrated increased knowledge of social skills (p < .001), better friendship quality (p < .025), and improved self-concept (p < .005). Baseline variables that appear to predict increases in social skills following treatment included adolescent self-report of popularity (p < .025) and parent-report of social skills before treatment (p < .001). Other demographic variables including age, grade, gender, ethnicity, school placement, IQ, and adaptive functioning were not correlated with positive outcomes in social skills.
Conclusions: Baseline social skills were positively correlated with treatment outcome on the SSRS; whereas adolescents’ perceptions of their popularity at baseline were negatively correlated with positive social skills outcome. These findings suggest that adolescents who have higher parent-reported social skills scores prior to the intervention may be more likely to show improvement in overall social skills following the PEERS intervention. In addition, adolescents who deem themselves to be less popular prior to the intervention may be more likely to show improvement in social skills following treatment.