A pilot study of combining social skills training and parenting training for children with autism spectrum disorders and their parents in Japan.
Brain Dev
; 43(8): 815-825, 2021 Sep.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34023190
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a program containing a combination of social skills training (SST) and parenting training (PT) for the enrichment of social interaction skills and reduction of parenting stress for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) and their parents in Japan. Twenty-two patients with HFASD from second to fourth grade and their parents were assigned to a training group (TG) or treatment as usual (TAU) and compared. The children with HFASD and their parents who were assigned to the TG participated in the manualized program for over a period of five to six months. Subjects provided demographic and medical information and completed teacher and parent-rating scales for social competence (Social Responsiveness Scale-2 SRS-2) and parent-rating of parenting stress (Parental Stress Index PSI) and mental health (General Health Questionnaire-28 GHQ-28). The participants exhibited some improvements pre-, middle-, and post-treatment, particularly regarding the GHQ, PSI and SRS-2, as reported by parents. However, the social skills improvement reported by teachers was not significant. At the three-month follow-up, parent-rated GHQ and PSI maintained improvement, and SRS-2 achieved the greatest improvement from the baseline rating. Although some findings indicate that a program combination of SST and PT might be useful for enhancing social skills and improving parental stress and mental health, some subscales did not show a sufficient effect. Future research should consider program contents and provide longitudinal follow-up data to test the durability of the treatment.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Parenting
/
Education, Nonprofessional
/
Social Skills
/
Autism Spectrum Disorder
/
Psychosocial Intervention
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Brain Dev
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article