Benefits of a Social Skills Intervention in Residential Treatment Settings

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Benefits of a Social Skills Intervention in Residential Treatment Settings For Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The UCLA PEERS Program Allison Vreeland, Elizabeth Laugeson, Jessica Romeyn, Lara Tucci, Ruth Ellingsen, and Alex Friedman University of California, Los Angeles The Help Group – UCLA Autism Research Alliance Results Methods Introduction Introduction Results PROCEDURES • 14 week manualized social skills intervention (Laugeson & Frankel, 2010) specifically targeting friendship skills for adolescents with ASD. • Targeted skills included: • Conversational skills • Electronic communication • Choosing appropriate friends • Appropriate use of humor • Peer entry and exiting • Organizing and having successful get-togethers • Good sportsmanship • Handling teasing and bullying • Changing a bad reputation • Handling disagreements with friends • Each adolescent received 60-minute lessons delivered once a week with an additional 30 minutes of behavioral rehearsal in the milieu. • Residential Advisors and Teachers uninvolved in the treatment completed measures to assess overall adolescent social functioning at pre- and post-treatment. • Paired samples t-tests were conducted on Residential Advisor and Teacher SSIS, SRS, and TRF. • Residential programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have helped adolescents and adults move toward greater independence from their families. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these programs in the areas of socialization, communication, and peer relations. • The UCLA PEERS Program (Laugeson & Frankel, 2010), a social skills group intervention for high-functioning adolescents with ASD, teaches teens ecologically valid rules and steps of social etiquette that target the development and maintenance of friendships. • In outpatient mental health settings and schools, PEERS has been shown to increase social engagement and improve overall social skills and social responsiveness in adolescents and young adults with ASD (Laugeson et al., 2009; Laugeson et al., 2011; Gantman et al., 2011). • Previous research has not assessed the effectiveness of social skills treatments in residential programs for individuals with ASD. • There was a trend level result showing an improvement in SRS Social Motivation as reported by residential advisors. • Trend level results also showed improvement in communication an additional adaptive functioning skills as reported by teachers. Discussion • Findings indicate that the use of PEERS for adolescents with ASD is beneficial and should be further utilized in residential treatment settings. • Results from the current study support the literature suggesting that PEERS improves social skills for adolescents with ASD. • Not only did Residential Advisors report improved social functioning, but teachers who were not involved in the treatment also reported significant changes in social skills. • Results were limited by the small sample size and the lack of comparison control group. Furthermore, training, supervision, and monitoring of treatment fidelity were unavailable due to the financial constraints of the study. • Future studies might use randomized control trial methods with larger samples to include comparisons of active treatment control groups with treatment fidelity monitoring. p = .01 p = .01 Objectives References Results Achenback, T.M. (1991) Integrative Guide to the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychology. Bukowski, W., Hoza, B., & Boivin, M. (1994). Measuring friendship quality during pre-and early adolescence: The development and psychometric properties of the Friendship Qualities Scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11, 471-484. Constantino, J.N., & Gruber, C.P. (2005). The Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) Manual. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. Gantman, A., Kapp, S., Orenski, K., and Laugeson, E. A. (2011). Social skills training for young adults with autism spectrum disorders: A randomized controlled intervention study. Journal for Autism and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-011-1350-6. Gresham, F.M., & Elliot, S. (1990). The Social Skills Rating System. MN: American Guidance Service. La Greca, A.M. (1999) Manual for the Social Anxiety Scales for Children and Adolescents. Miami, FL. Laugeson, E. A., Frankel, F., Mogil, C., & Dillon, A. R. (2009). Parent-assisted social skills training to improve friendships in teens with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39, 596-606. Laugeson, E., & Frankel, F. (2010). Social Skills for Teenagers with Developmental and Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Peers Treatment Manual, Routeledge US. Laugeson, E. A., Frankel, F., Gantman, A., Dillon, A. R., & Mogil, C. (2011). Evidence-based social skills for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: The UCLA PEERS program. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-011-1339-1. Piers, E.V., Harris, D.B., & Herzberg, D. S. (2002). Piers Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale, Second Editions. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services. • To examine the effectiveness of improving social functioning in high-functioning adolescents with ASD using the UCLA PEERS Program in a residential treatment setting. Methods p = .01 • PARTICIPANTS • 6 adolescents (15-17 years of age, M = 16.33) • 4 male, 2 female • 5 Caucasian, 1 African American • Diagnosed with ASD • Diagnosis corroborated with SRS • 4 teachers from The Help Group • 5 residential advisors from The Help Group OUTCOME MEASURES RESIDENTIAL ADVISOR (RA) MEASURES • Social Responsiveness Scale (Constantino & Gruber, 2005) • Social Skills Improvement System (Gresham & Elliott, 2008) TEACHER MEASURES • Social Responsiveness Scale (Constantino & Gruber, 2005) • Social Skills Improvement System (Gresham & Elliott, 2008) • Teachers Report Form (Achenbach, 1991) p = .04 p = .01 p = .00 • Results demonstrate that residential advisors reported a significant improvement in adolescents’ responsibility and self-control on the SSIS after completing PEERS. • Teachers uninvolved in the treatment reported higher cooperation and self-control on the SSIS, and adaptive functioning-working hard on the TRF post-intervention. Teachers also reported improved social cognition and autistic mannerisms on the SRS post-intervention. Contact Information For additional information please contact: Allison Vreeland at peersclinic@ucla.edu or (310) 26-PEERS Visit the PEERS website at www.semel.ucla.edu/peers p = .02