Parent‐implemented behavioral skills training of social skills

Abstract

Impairment in social skills is a primary feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Research indicates that social skills are intimately tied to social development and negative social consequences can persist if specific social behaviors are not acquired. The present study evaluated the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) on teaching four parents of children with ASDs to be social skills trainers. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline design across parent-child dyads was employed and direct observation was used to assess parent and child behaviors Results demonstrated substantial improvement in social skills teaching for all participants for trained and untrained skills. Ancillary measures of child performance indicated improvement in skills as well. High levels of correct teaching responses were maintained at a 1 month follow-up. This study extends current literature on BST while also providing a helpful, low-effort strategy to modify how parents can work with their children to improve their social skills.

An evaluation of parents as behavior change agents in the Preschool Life Skills program

“…Parents were asked to identify important target skills for their child (one from each PLS unit and two additional parent identified targets, that is, a total of six skills), and to demonstrate, to the best of their ability, how they would teach each skill (Dogan et al, ). Parents modeled or described how they would teach skills (e.g., “I would get down to his level and remind him”, “I might say – okay, I have to make this phone call so you need to wait”).…”

“…It is widely recognized that successful behavior change, and acquisition of new skills, requires consistent learning opportunities across varying circumstances, people, and settings (e.g., Dogan et al, ). Therefore, in childhood, parental involvement in teaching and intervention is of paramount importance (Stocco & Thompson, ).…”

“…Therefore, in childhood, parental involvement in teaching and intervention is of paramount importance (Stocco & Thompson, ). Parent involvement in intervention has repeatedly been associated with benefits such as increased opportunities for learning, as well as positive generalization and maintenance outcomes (Dogan et al, ; Heitzmann‐Powell, Buzhardt, Rusinko, & Miller, ). Involving parents in intervention can benefit children, parents, and practitioners by saving time and resources (Dogan et al, ), and can overcome some of the barriers that restrict access to intervention for families (e.g., cost, availability, accessibility; Comer et al, ; Heitzmann‐Powell et al, ).…”

“…Based on these findings and suggestions for future research, the aim of the current research was to teach parents to use the PLS program through in‐vivo BST, as BST has demonstrated effective outcomes in parent training for both parents (e.g., development of teaching responses) and children (e.g., improvements in social skills; Dogan et al, ). Experiment 1 assessed the effects of the PLS program with parents and their typically developing children.…”

An evaluation of parent preference for prompting procedures

“…Parents have been trained to successfully implement several behavior-analytic procedures including discrete trial instruction (e.g., Lafasakis & Sturmey, 2007), social skills (e.g., Dogan, King, Fischetti, Lake, Mathews, & Warzak, 2017) communication training (e.g., Ingvarsson, 2011), activity schedules (e.g., Gerencser, Higbee, Akers, & Contreras, 2017), and functional analyses (e.g., Najdowski et al, 2008). The procedures included in BST (i.e., instruction, modeling, role play or in vivo rehearsal, and feedback) have been used to teach parents many of these interventions.…”