Secret Agent Society: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Transdiagnostic Youth Social Skills Group Treatment.

Group programs are key for targeting social skills (SS) for children with developmental disorders and/or mental illness. Despite promising evidence regarding efficacy of group treatments, there are several limitations to current research regarding generalizability and effectiveness across diagnoses. This randomized control trial assessed whether the Secret Agent Society (SAS) group program was superior to treatment as usual (TAU) in improving social-emotional functioning for children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and/or anxiety. Eighty-nine youth (8-12) with ADHD, ASD, and/or an anxiety disorder receiving treatment at hospital-based outpatient clinics were randomized to receive SAS (n = 47) or TAU (n = 42) over a three-month period, at which point TAU participants were offered the SAS intervention. Parent report showed significant improvement in Emotion Regulation (ER) and Social Skills (SS) for youth in SAS vs. TAU (Fs ≥ 6.79, ps ≤ 01). Gains for the SAS condition were maintained at 6-months. Intent-to-treat analysis of teacher report indicated youth in SAS had positive gains in SS (F = 0.41, p = 0.475) and ER (F = 0.99, p = 0.322), though not significantly better than youth in TAU. Clinically reliable improvement rates were significantly higher for SAS participants than TAU for parent and teacher reported SS and ER. Improvements were significant for youth with single and comorbid diagnoses. Results suggest that SAS was superior to TAU in improving SS and ER for youth aged 8-12 with ADHD, ASD, and/or anxiety. Gains maintained in the medium-term. Trial registration number NCT02574273, registered 10/12/2015.

The association between impulsivity and alcohol/drug use among prison inmates.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined the relation between impulsivity and drug involvement with prison inmates, in spite of their heavy drug use. Among this small body of work, most studies look at clinically relevant drug dependence, rather than drug use specifically. METHOD: N=242 adult inmates (34.8% female, 52% White) with an average age of 35.58 (SD=9.19) completed a modified version of the 15-item Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and measures assessing lifetime alcohol, opiate, benzodiazepine, cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogen, and polysubstance use. Lifetime users also reported the frequency of use for the 30days prior to incarceration. RESULTS: Impulsivity was higher among lifetime users (versus never users) of all substances other than cannabis. Thirty day drug use frequency was only related to impulsivity for opiates and alcohol. DISCUSSION: This study extends prior work, by showing that a lifetime history of non-clinical substance use is positively associated with impulsivity among prison inmates. Implications for drug interventions are considered for this population, which is characterized by high rates of substance use and elevated impulsivity.