Social Skills Training in Autism Spectrum Disorder Across the Lifespan

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Key points

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    Findings from the current literature review indicate that social skills training programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorder are effective in improving social competence, although effects are frequently not robust across all outcomes measured.

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    When aggregating across the social skills training programs with the strongest evidence, common elements can be identified in both the treatment delivery method and the social skills content targeted.

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    However, social skills training programs

Social skills deficits in autism spectrum disorder

Despite their importance, there is significant individual variability in the mastery of social skills in children and adults. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnostically characterized by deficits in social communication.15 Social skill deficits in ASD are apparent in early childhood. Children with ASD show impairments in early communication, social attention, and pretend play skills.16,17 Following this impaired social learning in early childhood, differences in the maturation of social

Social skills training

Clearly, targeting social skills deficits in individuals with ASD is a critical path through which to improve outcomes in this population. Although typically developing individuals may intuitively learn social norms and skills, the impaired social learning common in ASD likely interferes with this normative process. Social skills training programs seek to remedy this gap by providing specific guidance into and knowledge of the social world. Although social skills training is a common

Early Childhood (0–6 years)

Although autism symptoms and associated social deficits can be detected as early as 12 months of age, few social skills training programs for very young children with ASD have been systematically tested. A review of social skills interventions for this age range found that most eligible studies (31 of 35) were single-subject designs.40 Definably, social skills training in this age range is also less clear than at later developmental stages. Specifically, interventions at this age may aim to

Summary

Social skills training programs are available for those with ASD from early childhood to young adulthood, with supporting evidence from multiple RCTs. Metaanalyses and systematic reviews continually support social skills training as efficacious in ameliorating social skills deficits in ASD.32,33,38 Despite this, the density and quality of the evidence within the highlighted developmental groups vary. Overall, most of the research included in the current review was published within the last

Future directions

Although the current literature provides evidence for the effectiveness of social skills training in individuals with ASD, more research is needed to confidently determine the efficacy, generalizability, and maintenance of treatment response to these approaches. In particular, future research would benefit from increased methodological rigor, through the following:

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    Recruitment of larger sample sizes

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    Utilization of active treatment controls

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    Blind standardized assessment of outcome (eg, reduced

Disclosure

Dr. E.A. Laugeson receives royalties for book sales of PEERS manuals through Routledge; these manuals are referenced in the current article.

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