A randomized controlled study of a social skills training for preadolescent children with autism spectrum disorders: generalization of skills by training parents and teachers?

BMC Psychiatry

Annelies de Bildt²  Marieke E Timmerman¹  Erik J Mulder²  Maaike H Nauta¹  Vera Dekker² 

[1] Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands;Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Accare Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands

关键词: Treatment efficacy;    Primary school;    RCT;    Autism spectrum disorder;    Social skills training;   

Others  :  1123489
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-14-189

 received in 2014-05-27, accepted in 2014-06-17,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Social skills training (SST) is a common intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) to improve their social and communication skills. Despite the fact that SSTs are often applied in clinical practice, the evidence for the effectiveness of these trainings for children with ASD is inconclusive. Moreover, long term outcome and generalization of learned skills are little evaluated. Additionally, there is no research on the influence of involvement of parents and teachers on effectiveness of SST and on the generalization of learned social skills to daily life. We expect parent and teacher involvement in SST to enhance treatment efficacy and to facilitate generalization of learned skills to daily life.

Method/Design

In a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three conditions, 120 participants with ASD at the end of primary school (10–12 years of calendar age) have been randomized to SST, SST-PTI (SST with Parent & Teacher Involvement), or care-as-usual. The SST consists of 18 group sessions of 1.5 hours for the children. In the SST-PTI condition, parents additionally participate in 8 parent sessions and parents and teachers are actively involved in homework assignments. Assessment takes place at three moments: before and immediately after the intervention period and at 6 months follow-up. Primary outcome is socialization, as an aspect of adaptive functioning. Secondary outcomes focus on specific social skills children learn during SST and on more general social skills pertaining to home and community settings from a multi-informant perspective. Additionally, possible predictors of treatment outcome will be assessed.

Discussion

The current study is an RCT study evaluating SST in a large sample of Dutch children with ASD in a specific age range (10–12 years). Strengths of the study are the use of one manualized protocol, application of standardized and internationally used rating instruments, use of multiple raters, investigation of generalization of learned skills to daily life, and the evaluation of efficacy in the longer term by follow-up measures at 6 months after the end of training.

Trial registration

NTR2405

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Dekker et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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