New approaches to social skills training: Blended group interventions for girls with social communication difficulties

TY - JOUR

T1 - New approaches to social skills training

T2 - Blended group interventions for girls with social communication difficulties

AU - Wolstencroft, Jeanne

AU - Kerry, Eleanor

AU - Denyer, Hayley

AU - Watkins, Alice

AU - Mandy, William

AU - Skuse, David

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the Child Health Research CIO. All research at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is made possible by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. We would like to thank the families that took part and our Honorary Research Assistants Charlotte Russell and Hannah Gould, who helped make the project possible. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

PY - 2021/5

Y1 - 2021/5

N2 - Social skills group interventions are increasing popular for children with social communication disorders but there is little evidence of their acceptability or effectiveness when delivered online. We report a feasibility study that adapted the Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) to provide an intensive 8 week online delivery to female adolescents, blended with some face-to-face group meetings. A systematic multiple-case series design with case tracking was developed, comprising a 3-month baseline, a 2-month intervention and a 3-month follow-up period. Seven adolescents with Turner Syndrome and social communication difficulties (17–20 years) took part, together with their parents. Acceptability and feasibility were assessed by means of qualitative feedback and attendance rates. Changes in social adaptation were tracked using measures of social knowledge, social behaviour and autistic symptoms, plus anxiety and self-esteem. Attendance rates were consistently high and there were no dropouts. Qualitative feedback indicated the online format was acceptable to both the participants and their families. Objective outcome measures showed significant gains in social knowledge and improved social initiations from measures made during the pre-intervention baseline. This proof-of-principle pilot study demonstrated blended social skills interventions are both feasible and acceptable to adolescent females with social communication difficulties. Lay Summary: Social skills groups are increasingly popular for children with social communication disorders, but there is little evidence for their use online. Psychological treatments that require weekly face-to-face sessions for both children and their parents are associated with practical difficulties, disrupting family life and school commitments. Our study, is the first to use a blended online and face-to-face social skills training program for adolescent girls with social communication difficulties. We showed that this new approach to treatment was acceptable to families and has a positive and significant impact on participant's social performance and social knowledge. This new treatment approach may increase the accessibility of treatment for adolescents and young adults, especially those with social communication difficulties. Autism Res 2021, 14: 1061–1072.

AB - Social skills group interventions are increasing popular for children with social communication disorders but there is little evidence of their acceptability or effectiveness when delivered online. We report a feasibility study that adapted the Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) to provide an intensive 8 week online delivery to female adolescents, blended with some face-to-face group meetings. A systematic multiple-case series design with case tracking was developed, comprising a 3-month baseline, a 2-month intervention and a 3-month follow-up period. Seven adolescents with Turner Syndrome and social communication difficulties (17–20 years) took part, together with their parents. Acceptability and feasibility were assessed by means of qualitative feedback and attendance rates. Changes in social adaptation were tracked using measures of social knowledge, social behaviour and autistic symptoms, plus anxiety and self-esteem. Attendance rates were consistently high and there were no dropouts. Qualitative feedback indicated the online format was acceptable to both the participants and their families. Objective outcome measures showed significant gains in social knowledge and improved social initiations from measures made during the pre-intervention baseline. This proof-of-principle pilot study demonstrated blended social skills interventions are both feasible and acceptable to adolescent females with social communication difficulties. Lay Summary: Social skills groups are increasingly popular for children with social communication disorders, but there is little evidence for their use online. Psychological treatments that require weekly face-to-face sessions for both children and their parents are associated with practical difficulties, disrupting family life and school commitments. Our study, is the first to use a blended online and face-to-face social skills training program for adolescent girls with social communication difficulties. We showed that this new approach to treatment was acceptable to families and has a positive and significant impact on participant's social performance and social knowledge. This new treatment approach may increase the accessibility of treatment for adolescents and young adults, especially those with social communication difficulties. Autism Res 2021, 14: 1061–1072.

KW - autism

KW - e-health

KW - girls

KW - intervention

KW - online treatment

KW - social skills training

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102318913&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/aur.2495

DO - 10.1002/aur.2495

M3 - Article

C2 - 33694323

AN - SCOPUS:85102318913

SN - 1939-3792

VL - 14

SP - 1061

EP - 1072

JO - Autism research

JF - Autism research

IS - 5

ER -