A Replication and Extension of the UCLA PEERS® for Young Adults Social Skills Intervention

Background:  

Research shows that the UCLA PEERS^® for Young Adults social skills intervention is effective at helping young adults with ASD make and keep friends (Gantman, Kapp, Orenski, & Laugeson, 2012; Laugeson, Gantman, Kapp, Orenski, & Ellingsen, 2015), however, these findings have not yet been replicated outside of the site of development. Further, the developers utilized relatively small sample sizes, limited diagnostic criteria for ASD, and did not evaluate the intervention’s impact on social anxiety.

Objectives:  

The objectives of this study were to examine the effectiveness of the PEERS^® for Young Adults intervention by conducting a direct replication and extension by recruiting a larger sample size, utilizing more stringent diagnostic criteria, and examining social anxiety outcomes.

Methods:  

Forty-seven young adults with high functioning ASD (N = 47; 38 male) between the ages of 17 and 28 participated in this study. Participants were screened using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-G; Lord, Rutter, DiLavore, & Risi, 2002) as it represents the gold-standard in ASD evaluation. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Experimental Treatment Group (EXP) or the Waitlist Control Group (WL). All participants and parents/caregivers completed a battery of questionnaires to assess social skills behavior, social responsiveness, social skills knowledge, quality of socialization, empathy, loneliness, and anxiety at two time points (pre- and post-intervention for the EXP group) approximately 15 weeks apart.

Results:  

Young adults in the EXP group demonstrated significant improvements in social skills, specifically problem behavior (SSIS-RS Competing Problem Behavior, F(1, 45) = 11.952, p = .001, partial η² = .210), social responsiveness (SRS, F(1, 45) = 7.651, p = .008, partial η² = .145), social skills knowledge (TYASSK, F(1, 45) = 92.010, p =.001, partial η² = .672), and empathy (EQ, F(1, 45) = 6.960, p =.011, partial η² = .134) compared to the WL group at post-intervention. Quality of socialization, as measured by the number of direct peer interactions, approached significance (QSQ-YA, F(1, 45) = 3.449, p = .070, partial η² = .071). Improvements were seen for social and emotional loneliness (SELSA), but they did not reach significance. Exploratory analysis uncovered a significant improvement in social anxiety over time (LSAS, F(1, 45) = 9.302, p = .006, partial η² = .297). Social phobia (SPIN) improved as well, but not to the point of significance.

Conclusions:  

Results provide further support for the effectiveness of the UCLA PEERS^® for Young Adults intervention, specifically in the domains of social skills behavior, social responsiveness, social skills knowledge, and empathy. Further evaluation is merited to examine the effects of the intervention on social and emotional loneliness and anxiety, though trends demonstrate improvement in these areas as well. These results have important implications for the overall mental health and well being of young adults with ASD. Improvements in social skills are likely to relate to improvements not only in the development of social relationships, but also mood, adaptive functioning, and self-efficacy.