A systematic review of the efficacy of group social skills interventions on social functioning and social participation in children with acquired brain injury or cerebral palsy.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Group social skills interventions (GSSIs) versus any comparator on social functioning in children aged 5-12 years with acquired brain injury or cerebral palsy. BACKGROUND: GSSIs are an evidence-based approach to foster social skills development in children with autism spectrum disorder. Currently, limited literature exploring GSSIs in children with acquired brain injury and cerebral palsy is available. RESULTS: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, clinicaltrials.gov, ICTRP and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses were systematically searched. Study screening, risk-of-bias, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation and data extraction were performed in duplicate. Six studies were included in the narrative synthesis (one randomised controlled trial and five nonrandomised studies). Results indicate that GSSIs may increase children's social skills as measured on the Social Skills Rating System and Social Skills Questionnaire. Very low certainty evidence was found for improvements in social functioning and competence. CONCLUSIONS: There is low certainty evidence that participation in GSSI may lead to gains in social functioning for children with acquired brain injury or cerebral palsy. Given the certainty of the evidence, these results must be interpreted with caution. Only one randomised controlled trial of GSSIs for children with acquired brain injury was identified, underscoring the need for additional high-quality studies.

Effectiveness of serious games in social skills training to autistic individuals: A systematic review.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurological condition that significantly impacts individuals' daily lives and social interactions due to challenges in verbal and non-verbal communication. Game-based tools for psychological support and patient education are rapidly gaining traction. Among these tools, teaching social skills via serious games has emerged as a particularly promising educational strategy for addressing specific characteristics associated with autism. Unlike traditional games, serious games are designed with a dual purpose: to entertain and to fulfill a specific educational or therapeutic goal. This systematic review aims to identify and categorize serious computer games that have been used to teach social skills to autistic individuals and to assess their effectiveness. We conducted a comprehensive search across seven databases, resulting in the identification and analysis of 25 games within 26 studies. Out of the 104 criteria assessed across these studies, 57 demonstrated significant improvement in participants. Furthermore, 22 of these studies reported significant enhancements in at least one measured criterion, with 13 studies observing significant improvements in all assessed outcomes. These findings overwhelmingly support the positive impact of computer-based serious game interventions in teaching social skills to autistic individuals.

Enhancing social outcomes in autistic youth: Assessing the impact of PEERS® booster sessions.

BACKGROUND: The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is a social skills training program for autistic adolescents and those facing social challenges. Its efficacy has been established worldwide, including in Italy. Although booster interventions are a potentially valuable strategy to maintain improvements over time, there is currently no research on the efficacy of providing booster sessions of PEERS® following the traditional treatment. AIMS: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of PEERS® Booster sessions in a sample who had previously participated in a traditional PEERS® Adolescent program. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A longitudinal non-randomized study was conducted involving 21 autistic adolescents, divided into the treatment group undergoing PEERS® Booster sessions and the control group without it. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The study evaluated the primary outcomes (social abilities) and secondary outcomes (co-occurrences, executive functions) at two-time points (pre- and post-treatment). No significant differences were found between groups on baseline measures and primary outcomes. However, there were significant group differences between pre- and post-treatment on primary outcomes (social awareness and social communication) and secondary outcomes (externalizing problems). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The efficacy of the PEERS® Booster Sessions shows promise and clinical implications were also discussed.

Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) for Italy: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Social Skills Intervention for Autistic Adolescents.

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is an intervention targeting social skills for autistic adolescents and those with other social challenges. The efficacy of the PEERS® on adolescents has been extensively explored but the program has not been validated in Italy. In the present study, we adapted PEERS® to Italian culture and evaluated its efficacy in an Italian sample. A Randomized Controlled Trial was conducted, analyzing the results of 37 autistic adolescents who were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental group (TG) and waitlist group (WL). The primary outcomes (social abilities) and secondary outcomes (co-occurring conditions, executive functions) were assessed at four time points. No differences were found at pre-treatment between groups on baseline measures and primary outcomes. At post-treatment, significant group differences emerged in primary outcomes (social knowledge and social performance) and secondary outcomes (emotion regulation). The groups' results pooled together (TG + WL) confirmed the findings at post-treatment and showed further changes in primary outcomes (global social competence and social cognition) and secondary outcomes (externalizing problems, emotive and behavioral total problems, functional problems related to depressive symptoms). The improvements were maintained at a 3-month follow-up, except for global social competence and social cognition. Additionally, new results emerged regarding internalizing problems and global executive functioning. The efficacy of the Italian version of PEERS® was ascertained on primary and secondary outcomes. Innovative findings on emotion regulation, behavioral problems, and depression symptoms also emerged.Clinical trial registration information Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) for Italy. An RCT's Study on Social Skills Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov . TRN: NCT05473104. Release Date: July 21, 2022.

Entrenamiento de Habilidades Sociales y estrese en la universidad: un estudio de caso / Treinamento de habilidades sociais e estresse na universidade: um estudo de caso / Social skills training and stress at the university: a case study

A aplicação do Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais no contexto universitário pode ser eficaz para a redução do estresse percebido pelos estudantes. Assim, o objetivo do presente artigo foi descrever, no formato de um estudo de caso único, o processo terapêutico de um Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais realizado com uma estudante de Psicologia, apresentando dados referentes à eficácia da intervenção. As avaliações pré e pós-teste foram feitas com os seguintes instrumentos: Inventário de Habilidades Sociais 2 (IHS2-Del-Prette), Escala de Estresse Percebido (PSS-14), entrevistas e diário de campo. Contatou-se o aprimoramento de habilidades sociais como recusar e fazer pedidos, lidar com críticas e expor desagrado e solicitar mudança de comportamento do outro, e redução dos níveis de estresse com base em dados qualitativos e quantitativos, com manutenção desses resultados no follow-up de seis semanas. Concluiu-se que o Treinamento de Habilidades Sociais realizado possibilitou a melhora da experiência na universidade para a participante.

La aplicación del entrenamiento de Habilidades Sociales en el contexto universitario puede ser eficaz para la disminución del estrese percibido por los estudiantes. Delante eso, el objetivo del presente artículo fue describir, en el molde de un estudio de caso único, el proceso terapéutico de un entrenamiento de Habilidades Sociales realizado con una estudiante de Psicología, que presentaba, también, datos referentes a la eficacia de la intervención. Las evaluaciones antes y e después de la prueba se hicieron con los siguientes instrumentos: Inventario de Habilidades Sociales 2 (IHS2-Del-Prette), Escala de Estrese Percibido (PSS-14), entrevistas y diario de campo. Fue posible constatar el perfeccionamiento de habilidades sociales como recusar y hacer pedidos, lidiar con críticas y exponer desagrado y solicitar cambio de comportamiento del otro, y reducción de los niveles de estrese con base en datos cualitativos y cuantitativos, con manutención de esos resultados en elfollow-upde seis semanas. Se concluye que el Entrenamiento de Habilidades Sociales realizado posibilitó la mejora de la experiencia en la universidad para la participante.

The application of Social Skills Training in the university context can be effective in reducing the stress perceived by students. Therefore, the objective of this article was to describe, in the format of a single case study, the therapeutic process of a Social Skills Training carried out with a Psychology student, also presenting data regarding the effectiveness of the intervention. Pre- and post-test assessments were performed using the following instruments: Social Skills Inventory 2 (IHS2-Del-Prette), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14), interviews and field diary. It was possible to verify the improvement of social skills such as refusing and making requests, dealing with criticism and exposing displeasure and requesting a change in the other's behavior, and reduction of stress levels based on qualitative and quantitative data, with maintenance of these results in the follow-up of six weeks. It was concluded that the Social Skills Training carried out enabled the participant to improve her university experience.

Social skills training using multiple humanoid robots for individuals with autism spectrum conditions.

Introduction: Social skills training (SST) is used to help individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) better understand the perspectives of others and social interactions, develop empathy skills, and learn how to engage with others socially. However, many individuals with ASC cannot easily sustain high motivation and concentration during such an intervention when it is administered by humans. We developed a social skills training program using multiple humanoid robots (STUH), including an android robot, that aimed to enable individuals with ASC to become familiar with the perspectives of others and improve their sociability and empathy skills. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of STUH for these individuals. Methods: In STUH, we prepared 50 social exercises that consisted of conversations and behavioral interactions between an android robot and a simple humanoid robot. We prepared another humanoid robot that featured a cartoon-like and mechanical design, which played the role of host. In the first half-session of STUH, participants worked on the exercise from the perspective of an outsider. In the second half-session of STUH, they simulated experience by using robots as their avatars. The intervention associated with STUH was conducted for five days in total. We conducted an analysis of variance (ANOVA) featuring the intervention time point as the independent variable to examine changes in each score on the sociability index items. Results: In total, 14 individuals with ASC participated in the study. The results of multiple comparison tests using the Bonferroni method indicated that all sociability index items improved between preintervention and follow-up. Our program enabled the participants to become familiar with the perspectives of others and improve their sociability. Discussion: Given the promising results of this study, future studies featuring long-term follow-up should be conducted to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of our training system.

Social Skills and Cognitive Training to Support Work-Related Skills and Job Placement in a Group of Autistic Adults : Effectiveness of a Neuropsychological and Social Skills Intervention: A Case Series Study on a Pilot Program.

Autistic people may have difficulties in finding and keeping a job. Studies highlight that only 34% of autistic people are employed compared to 54% of people with disability. 58% of people with ASD have never had a job. Social cognition and cognitive strains may also have a significant impact on working life. The primary goal of our project is supporting autistic people through a training program focused on neuropsychological and social skills training to improve participant' job skills. Through an Individual Placement and Support model the project involved various Partners to guide, identify skills and interests, provide cognitive and psychological support for autistic people. Results highlighted neuropsychological training efficacy, especially in inhibitory control and good rate of employment status at the end of the project. Findings are encouraging and underline the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to support autistic people in their work life considering their expectations, needs and inclinations.

Fostering Friendship and Dating Skills Among Adults on the Autism Spectrum: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Polish Version of the PEERS® for Young Adults Curriculum.

PEERS® for Young Adults is an evidence-based program aimed at teaching social skills needed to establish and maintain close relationships, including friendship and romantic relationships. The study investigated the effects of the Polish adaptation of the curriculum on the social functioning of adults on the autism spectrum. Fifteen young adults (aged 18-32, M = 23.5) were randomly allocated to an immediate or delayed (control) treatment condition. By self and parent report, individuals who participated in the PEERS® program showed significant improvements in social skills, social cognition, and social knowledge, but limited gains in social engagement. The effects were maintained over six months after the treatment. The intervention was well-accepted and deemed feasible by young adults, their parents, and peers involved in the program.

The Validation of Automated Social Skills Training in Members of the General Population Over 4 Weeks: Comparative Study.

BACKGROUND: Social skills training by human trainers is a well-established method of teaching appropriate social and communication skills and strengthening social self-efficacy. Specifically, human social skills training is a fundamental approach to teaching and learning the rules of social interaction. However, it is cost-ineffective and offers low accessibility, since the number of professional trainers is limited. A conversational agent is a system that can communicate with a human being in a natural language. We proposed to overcome the limitations of current social skills training with conversational agents. Our system is capable of speech recognition, response selection, and speech synthesis and can also generate nonverbal behaviors. We developed a system that incorporated automated social skills training that completely adheres to the training model of Bellack et al through a conversational agent. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to validate the training effect of a conversational agent-based social skills training system in members of the general population during a 4-week training session. We compare 2 groups (with and without training) and hypothesize that the trained group's social skills will improve. Furthermore, this study sought to clarify the effect size for future larger-scale evaluations, including a much larger group of different social pathological phenomena. METHODS: For the experiment, 26 healthy Japanese participants were separated into 2 groups, where we hypothesized that group 1 (system trained) will make greater improvement than group 2 (nontrained). System training was done as a 4-week intervention where the participants visit the examination room every week. Each training session included social skills training with a conversational agent for 3 basic skills. We evaluated the training effect using questionnaires in pre- and posttraining evaluations. In addition to the questionnaires, we conducted a performance test that required the social cognition and expression of participants in new role-play scenarios. Blind ratings by third-party trainers were made by watching recorded role-play videos. A nonparametric Wilcoxson Rank Sum test was performed for each variable. Improvement between pre- and posttraining evaluations was used to compare the 2 groups. Moreover, we compared the statistical significance from the questionnaires and ratings between the 2 groups. RESULTS: Of the 26 recruited participants, 18 completed this experiment: 9 in group 1 and 9 in group 2. Those in group 1 achieved significant improvement in generalized self-efficacy (P=.02; effect size r=0.53). We also found a significant decrease in state anxiety presence (P=.04; r=0.49), measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). For ratings by third-party trainers, speech clarity was significantly strengthened in group 1 (P=.03; r=0.30). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal the usefulness of the automated social skills training after a 4-week training period. This study confirms a large effect size between groups on generalized self-efficacy, state anxiety presence, and speech clarity.

Mood and Emotional Changes After PEERS® Program in Parents of Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objectives: This study examined the changes in anxiety and depressive symptoms in the parents of Korean adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) after participating in the Korean version of the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills for Young Adults (PEERS®-YA-K). Methods: Forty-six parents were enrolled (mean age 54.7 years; 22 fathers and 24 mothers), of whom 27 participated in the PEERS®- YA-K as social coaches. Participants completed self-report scales, including the Test of Young Adult Social Skills Knowledge (TYASSK), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Symptom Check-List-90-R (SCL-90-R). The scales were administered three times: before and after the 16-week program and 4 months after the program ended. Differences between participant variables at pretreatment, post-treatment, and follow-up were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests. Results: Participants showed a significant improvement in their social skills knowledge (TYASSK) (p<0.01). There was a significant improvement in the BAI and BDI scores of parents with severe depressive and anxiety symptoms at the baseline (p<0.05). Paternal paranoia and maternal hostility results also significantly improved on the SCL-90-R. Conclusion: This study suggests that PEERS®-YA-K can reduce parental anxiety and depressive symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first to compare the degree of depression and anxiety after PEERS®-YA-K in parents of adults with ASD.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a reverse inclusion Social Skills intervention for children on the Autism Spectrum.

Schools need effective, generalizable, and socially valid social skills interventions to better support the social inclusion and peer relationships of their students on the autism spectrum. We evaluated a Pivotal Response Treatment-based, naturalistic social skills intervention implemented daily by school personnel in reverse inclusion school settings with four students on the autism spectrum (K-2nd grade). Using a single-case experimental design, results indicated that the students on the autism spectrum showed increases in the percent of time engaged in cooperative play with peers during the intervention (p = .0026) and moderate changes in social interactions were determined through systematic visual analysis. However, these changes in social behaviors did not generalize to natural inclusive school settings.

Effectiveness, durability, and clinical correlates of the PEERS social skills intervention in young adults with autism spectrum disorder: the first evidence outside North America.

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that social deficits among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are lifelong and impact many aspects of personal functioning, evidence-based programs for social skills training were not available until recently. The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) has been shown to effectively improve social skills for adolescents on the spectrum across different social cultures. However, the effectiveness for young adults beyond North America has yet to be examined. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the PEERS intervention in Taiwanese young adults with ASD, and examine its durability and clinical correlates. METHODS: We recruited 82 cognitively-able young adults with ASD, randomized to the PEERS treatment or treatment-as-usual. RESULTS: Following treatment, significant improvement was found in aspects of social deficits, autism severity, social interaction anxiety, empathy, and social skills knowledge either by self-report or coach-report. Additionally, communicative behaviors rated by observers improved throughout the sessions, showing a trend toward more appropriate eye contact, gestures, facial expression during conversation, and appropriate maintenance of conversation and reciprocity. Most effects maintained at 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. The improvement of social deficits was positively correlated with baseline severity, while gains in social skills knowledge were positively correlated with IQ. The improvement of social deficits, autism severity, and empathy were positively correlated with each other. CONCLUSION: Overall, the PEERS intervention appears to effectively improve social functioning in Taiwanese young adults with ASD. Improvement of social response and knowledge may be predicted by baseline severity and intelligence respectively.

Examining an individualized, group-based social skills training using a mixed-methods design: A feasibility study.

Tailoring treatments to individual needs may be beneficial for treatment adherence and treatment effects. However, individualizing a group-based Social Skills Training (SST) may be complicated. Therefore, in this feasibility study, we examined outcomes after engagement in an individualized SST provided to 33 children aged 7-11 years (M = 9.39, SD = 1.09; 13 girls), who were referred to a mental health care center for various psychosocial problems. To analyze outcomes, we combined a top-down (including researcher-chosen measures: Questionnaires on pro-social, socially inadequate, and problem behavior) and a bottom-up (including participant-driven measures: Ratings of personal goals and evaluation reports) approach and used a mixed-methods design. After the SST, personal goals and pro-social behavior increased (large and small effects respectively). Also, socially inadequate behavior and problem behavior decreased (both small effects). Evaluation reports mainly showed improvements in social responsiveness, emotion regulation, and internalizing problems. At the same time, however, most parents also reported limitations (e.g., a lack of generalization). Altogether, we can conclude that (1) tailoring a group-based SST to the individual needs of children, as well as measuring progress on personal goals, is feasible and (2) mixed-method designs to study intervention effectiveness should be encouraged.

Effects of Social Skills Training for Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum: a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Polish Adaptation of the PEERS® Intervention via Hybrid and In-Person Delivery.

The study examined the efficacy of the Polish adaptation of the PEERS® curriculum for adolescents on the autism spectrum. Twenty-nine adolescents (aged 11-16) were randomized into a Treatment and a Waitlist Control Group. Due to COVID-19-related restrictions, the Treatment Group received part of the intervention online (in hybrid mode). Results showed large effects of PEERS® increasing the teens' social skills, knowledge about social skills, and the number of get-togethers with peers. Most of the effects were maintained over a six-month follow-up period. There was no impact of the delivery mode on the treatment effects. The study demonstrates the feasibility and efficacy of the Polish adaptation of PEERS® and encourages future research on the online/hybrid delivery of Social Skills Training.

Psychotherapy for co-occurring symptoms of depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle accessing psychotherapy services for comorbidities, including anxiety-, depressive- and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). Apart from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety in children with ASD, it is unclear whether psychotherapy is effective for these comorbid disorders.We therefore systematically reviewed any form of psychotherapy for co-occurring symptoms of anxiety, depression and OCD in individuals with ASD.Database searches were conducted until February 2022 using EMBASE, PsycINFO and PubMed. Randomised controlled trials (RCT) were included investigating any form of psychotherapy for symptoms of anxiety, depression and OCD in individuals with ASD. Summary data were extracted, and random-effects meta-analyses were conducted.For CBT 26 RCTs (n = 1251), and for social skills training (SST) 11 RCTs (n = 475) met criteria for inclusion. Pooled effect sizes indicated a moderate reduction of anxiety in children (g = -0.70) and a small reduction of depressive symptoms in adults (g = -0.39). For SST overall effect sizes were small for reduction of anxiety in children (g = -0.35) and adults (g = -0.34) and moderate for reduction of depressive symptoms in children (g = -0.50). Risk of bias was high in 18, moderate in 16 and low in 3 RCTs.Our results provide new and age-specific evidence that: (1) CBT is effective for reducing anxiety in children and to a lesser extent for depressive symptoms in adults with ASD; and (2) social skills interventions are effective for reducing anxiety in children and adults and for depressive symptoms in children with ASD.

Social skills training with a tabletop role-playing game, before and during the pandemic of 2020: in-person and online group sessions.

Background: The area of social skills is broad, in theory and in practice. For social skills training, various clinical practices have been applied in group sessions, as have motivational resources such as role-playing games (RPGs). In recent years, the need arose to assess the clinical impact of the pandemic. The objective of this study was to determine the impact that the pandemic has had on in-person and online social skills training. Methods: We evaluated six subjects with autism spectrum disorder, with or without another, similar disorder, each of whom attended a total of 12 two-hour RPG sessions over a 12-month period. The original (Portuguese-language) version of the Social Skills Inventory for Adolescents was applied at three different time points (pre-, mid-, and post-intervention). Results: After six in-person tabletop RPG sessions, there was an increase in the mean frequency scores and a decrease in the mean difficulty scores. However, during the pandemic, the remaining six sessions were conducted online and the effect was the opposite. Conclusion: Our data indicate that there is a need for further studies assessing social skills training in online contexts.

Effects of computerized cognitive remediation therapy combined with social skill training on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia / 中国基层医药

Objective:To investigate the effects of computerized cognitive remediation therapy (CCRT) combined with social skill training on the improvement of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.Methods:A total of 102 schizophrenic patients who received treatment in Shanxi Province Social Welfare Kangning Psychiatry Hospital from March 2019 to June 2021 were included in this study. They were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group ( n = 51/group). During the intervention process, because of the reasons such as midway discharge, only 93 patients were included in the final analysis, consisting of 47 patients in the intervention group and 46 patients in the control group. All patients received social skills training. Patients in the intervention group received 8-week CCRT. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Social Skills Checklist were used to evaluate curative effect in the two groups. Results:After treatment, total score of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the score of negative symptoms in the intervention group were (46.36 ± 9.33) points and (11.15 ± 3.53) points, respectively, which were significantly lower than (51.06 ± 10.26) points and (16.42 ± 4.75) points in the control group ( t = 2.07, 5.41, both P < 0.05). The total score of Social Skills Checklist, conflict resolution ability score and relationship building ability score in the intervention group were (16.05 ± 6.85) points, (3.36 ± 1.65) points and (3.14 ± 1.83) points, respectively, which were significantly lower than (21.08 ± 8.24) points, (5.92 ± 2.35) points and (6.75 ± 2.51) points, respectively ( t = 2.87, 5.34, 7.00, all P < 0.01). Conclusion:CCRT combined with social skill training can effectively improve the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia.

Designing and deploying a virtual social sandbox for autistic children.

PURPOSE: This exploratory study was intended to investigate the design and feasibility of using a web virtual reality based social learning space for autistic children at home. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The researchers of the current study developed and implemented an open-source, web virtual reality based learning program for children with autism. Endorsing mixed-method convergent parallel design, we collected both qualitative and quantitative data from four autistic children, including repeated measures of social skills performance, self- and parent-reported social and communication competence, observation notes, and individual interviews. RESULTS: The study found preliminary evidence for a positive impact of deploying a virtual reality-based social sandbox on the practice and development of complex social skills for autistic children. All participants showed significant reduced social communication impairments from the pre- to the post-intervention phases. Nevertheless, participants' social skills performance in the virtual world was mediated by two social task design features-external goal structure and individualization. CONCLUSIONS: Play- and design-oriented social tasks in the three-dimensional virtual world framed meaningful social experiences or the naturalistic intervention for social skills development.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONPositive impacts of using a virtual reality-based social sandbox on complex social skills development for autistic children.Social task design features mediate social skills performance of autistic children.Purposeful environment arrangement creates a naturalistic intervention for autism.

Fear, psychophysiological arousal, and cognitions during a virtual social skills training in social anxiety disorder while manipulating gaze duration.

The use of virtual reality (VR) is an option for social skills training and exposure in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). In addition, virtual social situations are an ideal tool to study the influence of a counterpart's social behavior, e. g. eye contact. We developed two scenarios in VR that enable users to practice to assert their rights. The participants' tasks were to ask a passenger to release their reserved seat in a virtual train and to cancel a trip in a virtual travel agency. In a randomized, crossover design, we compared the effect of a large (during 80% of the conversation time) and a small (20%) amount of direct gaze by the virtual conversational partners in 41 patients with SAD and 21 healthy controls (HCs). We expected fear and psychophysiological arousal to be higher in patients than in HCs and higher in the 80% eye contact condition. The scenarios provoked an increase of fear and psychophysiological arousal over baseline in patients and in HCs. Gaze duration of the virtual agent had no influence on fear and psychophysiological arousal, but affected the experience of presence. Our results suggest a suitability of our scenarios for social skills training and exposure therapy in SAD. The lack of influence of gaze duration on parameters of fear might be explained by the fact that participants did not consciously detect the differences in gaze duration. However, the impact on some parameters (e. g. presence) suggests that participants noticed differences in gaze duration on a subliminal level.

Psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, cognitive remediation training, and/or social skills training in combination for psychosocial functioning of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Objectives: Psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, cognitive remediation training, and social skills training have been found to be effective interventions for patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, their efficacy on psychosocial functioning when provided in combination remains unclear, compared with all types of control conditions. It would also be meaningful to explore the differences of efficacy in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) and those with longer term of illness. Methodology: The present review followed the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Full-text English journal articles of randomized controlled trials published in the past decade in the databases of PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched. Included studies were all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with participants diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. The included studies should test combined interventions with at least two components from: psychoeducation, motivational interviewing, cognitive remediation training, and social skills training and incorporate assessment of psychosocial functioning at least at baseline and post-intervention. Results: Seven studies were included for systematic review, and six of them were eligible for meta-analysis. Five out of the seven studies reported effects on psychosocial functioning that favored combined interventions over any type of control condition. A significant pooled effect was derived from the six studies, SMD = 1.03, 95% CI [0.06, 2.00], Z = 2.09, p = 0.04, I 2 = 96%. However, the pool effect became insignificant when synthesizing five of the studies with non-FEP patients as participants and four of the studies testing relative effects of combined interventions compared with stand-alone interventions/interventions with one less component. None of the included studies adopted motivational interviewing and only one of the studies worked with FEP patients. Conclusion: Psychoeducation, cognitive remediation training, and social skills training in combination can effectively enhance psychosocial functioning of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. It is warranted to conduct more RCTs to test the effects of different specific combinations of the above interventions on psychosocial functioning, especially in FEP patients.