Social skills group training in children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: In 122 high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 9-13 years; 19 girls), we investigated the effectiveness of a 15-session social skills group training (SST) with and without parent and teacher involvement (PTI) in a randomized controlled trial with three conditions: SST (n?=?47), SST-PTI (n?=?51), and care-as-usual (CAU, n?=?24). Hierarchical linear modeling was used for immediate and 6-month follow-up analyses. Measures were administered before randomization (blind), post-treatment and at follow-up (not blind). Trial registration: Dutch Trial Register; http://www.trialregister.nl ; NTR2405. At post-treatment, children in both SSTs had improved significantly more than CAU on the primary outcome, Vineland Socialization (SST: Cohen's d?=?0.39; 95% CI -?2.23 to 3.11 and SST-PTI: d?=?0.43; 95% CI -?2.19 to 3.15) and on the secondary outcome parent-SSRS "Cooperation" (SST: d?=?0.43; 95% CI -?0.23 to 1.15 and SST-PTI: d?=?0.45; 95% CI -?0.21 to 1.17), with no difference between post-treatment and follow-up. Additionally, children in SST-PTI improved significantly more on the teacher-SSRS than in CAU ["Cooperation" d?=0.42 (95% CI -?0.33 to 1.13); "Assertion" d?=0.34 (95% CI -?0.39 to 1.11); "Self-Control" d?=0.61 (95% CI -?0.08 to 1.34)] and in SST ["Cooperation" d?=0.34 (95% CI -?0.37 to 1.05); "Self-Control" d?=0.59 (95% CI -?0.13 to 1.32)]. The current study corroborates earlier findings in smaller samples and wider age ranges, with small but statistically significant effects of SST for high-functioning pre-adolescent children with ASD. Parental and teacher involvement intensified treatment, yet did not yield an additional effect relative to SST for children only, as reported by parents. 6 months after training, no further improvement or decline was found.

SUBMITTER: Dekker V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6407743 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature