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Exploring the Effectiveness of a Peer-Mediated Model of the PEERS Curriculum: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 19 March 2018

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Abstract

This study compared immediate and 4-month outcomes among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder randomly assigned to the PEERS curriculum (n = 10), a peer mediated PEERS curriculum (n = 12), or a delayed treatment control group (n = 12). Findings suggest a modest advantage in social skills knowledge and social functioning for participants in the peer-mediated PEERS curriculum relative to Traditional PEERS, and gains in social skills knowledge, social functioning, and reductions in loneliness were maintained in one or both treatment groups at a 4-month follow-up. Typically developing peer mentors (n = 16) showed improvements in social skills knowledge and marginal improvements in autism knowledge and loneliness. Future research with a larger sample and objective outcome measures is needed.

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  • 19 March 2018

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake.

Notes

  1. A non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test indicated a marginally significant effect of study group on R-UCLA changes scores from time 1 to time 2 [H (2) = 5.38, p = .07].

  2. When the extreme outlier was included, there was not a significant increase in autism knowledge [t (15)= − 0.83, p = .42, d = 0.21]. This participant demonstrated a change score of − 10 on the AKQ; the next lowest change score was − 3. The clinicians reported that this teen arrived late to the final session and seemed to be rushing to complete the post assessments.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the families who participated in this study, as well as Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center staff and research assistants who contributed to participant intake assessments, data collection, and data entry. We would also like to thank Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson for training the principal investigator in the implementation of the PEERS curriculum, and Dr. Erica Skepnek for her contributions to training the autism center staff. This study was funded by the 2014 Organization for Autism Research Applied Research Grant.

Author Contributions

NM conceived the study design and oversaw all aspects of study implementation, including recruitment, screening, randomization, training and supervision of the clinical staff and research assistants, data collection, data cleaning, and statistical analysis. She also drafted the manuscript. BO managed and supervised the autism center’s clinical staff and contributed to writing and revising the manuscript. KW, MD, and MS implemented the intervention, assisted with data collection, and reviewed the manuscript prior to submission. JL contributed to writing and revising the manuscript. CS collaborated on all aspects of the study, including study design, implementation, data analysis, and writing and revising the manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by the Organization for Autism Research Applied Research Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, 300 N 18th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85006, USA

    Nicole L. Matthews, Beatriz C. Orr, Katrina Warriner, Mary DeCarlo, Mia Sorensen, Jessica Laflin & Christopher J. Smith

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  1. Nicole L. Matthews
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Correspondence to Nicole L. Matthews.

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Conflict of interest

Nicole L. Matthews, Beatriz C. Orr, Katrina Warriner, Mary DeCarlo, Mia Sorensen, Jessica Laflin and Christopher J. Smith declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Research Involving with Human and Animal Participants

This study does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

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Matthews, N.L., Orr, B.C., Warriner, K. et al. Exploring the Effectiveness of a Peer-Mediated Model of the PEERS Curriculum: A Pilot Randomized Control Trial. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 2458–2475 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3504-2

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