Social Skills Groups for People Aged 6 to 21 With Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Campbell Systematic Reviews
Reichow, B., Steiner, A. M., et al. (2012).
Campbell Systematic Reviews, 8(1), 1-76.
This systematic review compares the effects of social skills groups to the effects of no intervention, wait list, or treatment as usual on social competence, social communication, and quality of life in children and young adults, 6-21 years old, on the autism spectrum.
Associates of the Yale Child Study Center; Yale University School of Medicine
Through December 2011
Randomized control trials
5
"The results of this review provide some evidence that social skills groups may improve social competence (ES [effect size] = 0.47, p = 0.003) and friendship quality (ES = 0.41, p = 0.04) for this population" (p. 27). "No differences were found between treatment and control groups in relation to ... social communication as related to idioms (ES = 0.05, p = 0.89)" (p. 27). "The quality of evidence, as rated using the GRADE software, was low, suggesting further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate" (p. 28).
