Exploring Interventions Used to Teach Friendship Skills to Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism: a Systematic Review

Brady, Regina; Maccarrone, Alessia; Holloway, Jennifer; Gunning, Ciara; Pacia, Cressida

doi:10.1007/s40489-019-00194-7

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…In addition, future research should incorporate measures of generalization and maintenance, in line with previous reviews in the field (Brady et al, 2020;Gunning et al, 2019;Hansen et al, 2017;Kent et al, 2020a). This is especially important given the reported generalization (Carruthers et al, 2020;Ostmeyer & Scarpa, 2012;Rao et al, 2008) and maintenance (Bellini et al, 2007;Neely et al, 2016;Rogers, 2000) benefits of practice-based research.…”

Section: Recommendations For Future Practice-based Research In the Field Of Autism Play And Social Communication Developmentmentioning

confidence: 80%

A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts

O’Keeffe

Mcnally

2021

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

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Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience social communication difficulties which can be compounded by increased social demands and expectations of the school environment. Play offers a unique context for social communication development in educational settings. This systematic review aimed to synthesize play-based interventions for the social communication skills of children with ASD in educational contexts and identified nine studies. Overall, studies in this review provided a promising evidence base for supporting social communication skills through play in education for children with ASD. The review also highlighted gaps in research on play-based interventions for the social communication skills of children with ASD within naturalistic educational settings.

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Section: Recommendations For Future Practice-based Research In the Field Of Autism Play And Social Communication Developmentmentioning

confidence: 80%

A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts

O’Keeffe

Mcnally

2021

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

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“…Mental health professionals can use specific tools to map attachment in both parent and peer relationships, such as the age-developed interview used in this study [ 35 , 59 ], to design interventions to foster a teenager’s ability to build positive, intimate, and emotionally supportive friendships against the withdrawal, fostering their resilience. As a suggestion, targeted interventions for withdrawn teenagers could be eventually adapted from the evidence-based interventions designed for autism, where social withdrawal is present for different reasons [ 66 ]. At a community level, teachers or extracurricular school coaches can propose group activities to promote peer networks, engagement, enthusiasm in social activities, and friendship skills [ 67 ].…”

Section: Conclusion Limitations and Future Lines Of Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Power! Secure Peer Attachment Mediates the Effect of Parental Attachment on Depressive Withdrawal of Teenagers

Muzi

Rogier

Pace

2022

IJERPH

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Adolescents’ depressive social withdrawal is a relevant concern for mental health professionals, and it is widespread among community teenagers in form of subclinical symptoms. Different studies suggest that insecure attachment representations increase the adolescents’ likelihood to show symptoms of withdrawal (e.g., loneliness). This study explored the effect of the general attachment internal working model (IWM) and the independent and cumulative effects of the specific attachment representations of parents—in terms of secure base/safe haven—and peers on adolescents’ withdrawal. Additionally, the mediation of peer attachment on the effect of parental attachment on symptoms was explored. All analyses were conducted controlling for the difference between teenagers living with parents together or divorced/separated, as children of divorcees are considered more exposed to stressors. Ninety-one adolescents aged 12–17 years old were assessed online during the COVID pandemic period, employing the Youth Self-Report to assess withdrawal and the Friends and Family Interview to assess attachment-general IWM and attachment-specific representations. Results show no influence of parents together/separated or of the general IWM on withdrawal, but higher parent secure base/safe haven and peer attachment cumulatively predicted 10–21% less withdrawal. Moreover, more positive peer attachment mediated 61% of the effect of the parental secure attachment on withdrawal, revealing an indirect effect of parental attachment on withdrawal through peer attachment. In conclusion, both parents and peers are influential on adolescent mental health, and fostering positive peer relationships can buffer the effect of dysfunctional family relationships on teenagers’ withdrawal.

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“…PMII is another evidence-based practice that involves training typically developing peers to act as the main interventionists to support novel behaviour or skill development in individuals with disability [11]. These interventions, used in isolation or in combination with other methods, are the most commonly used approaches to support the development and generalisation of social skills that support friendship development for young people with autism [6]. Like SST, the use of PMII also aims to achieve assimilation but some of its features support accommodation, or the modification of the physical or social environment [12].…”

Section: Peer-mediated Instruction and Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of these features is the use of peers. Peers can be trained or untrained and are considered to be an effective feature of friendship-skill interventions as shown through increases in social interaction during intervention implementation [6]. Providing typically developing peers with autism awareness training (i.e., characteristics of autism, advice on how to interact with peers with autism, and highlighting the strengths of their peers with autism) in preparation for PMII, has been shown to further improve their intentions to interact with their peers with autism [10,11].…”

Section: Peer-mediated Instruction and Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Facilitating these interactions can result in improved social competence which translates to positive outcomes at later developmental stages (e.g., academic achievement, quality of life, vocational success) [5]. Although still relatively limited when compared to general social skill interventions, research and reviews on friendship-skill interventions for children and adolescents with autism have commonly involved the evaluation of social skills training (SST) and peer-mediated instruction and intervention (PMII) [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Friendship-Skill Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism

Zanuttini

2021

GJIDD

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Children and adolescents with autism commonly experience social communication impairments that can make it difficult for them to establish and maintain reciprocal friendships. Difficulty making or keeping friends can have a negative impact on a young person's academic achievements, social interactions, and emotional wellbeing. This paper aims to synthesise the available research on popular friendship-skill interventions to examine the common features of effective interventions and reveal elements that remain absent from the research. Most friendship-skill interventions for individuals with autism can be categorised as social skills training and peer-mediated instruction and interventions. Across these two intervention types, there are common features that contribute to their success, such as, the presence of peers, opportunities for skill generalisation, and the selection of target behaviours that consider the individual needs of the participant. However, research indicates an over reliance on modifying the behaviour of individuals without taking environmental supports into account. In addition, there remain some key omissions from the current body of literature that need to be addressed, including opportunities for generalisation, comparison of effects across ages and stages, and the inclusion of student voice.

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Exploring Interventions Used to Teach Friendship Skills to Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism: a Systematic Review

Cited by 6 publications

References 42 publications

A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts

A Systematic Review of Play-Based Interventions Targeting the Social Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Educational Contexts

Peer Power! Secure Peer Attachment Mediates the Effect of Parental Attachment on Depressive Withdrawal of Teenagers

Friendship-Skill Interventions for Children and Adolescents with Autism

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