The Methodological Quality and Intervention Fidelity of Randomised Controlled Trials Evaluating Social Skills Group Programs in Autistic Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

A systematic review and meta-analysis were utilised to explore the methodological quality, program fidelity, and efficacy of social skills group programs (SSGPs) aiming to support autistic adolescents in navigating their everyday social worlds. The study evaluated the methodological quality and theoretical fidelity of studies, with a random effect meta-analysis conducted to summarise the overall efficacy of SSGP and its effect on social communication and interaction, behavioural/emotional challenges, adaptive functioning, and autism characteristics. Although findings from the 18 identified studies indicated an adjusted medium overall effect with these programs successfully supporting autistic adolescents’ socialisation needs (g = 0. 60, p < 0.001), most studies demonstrated medium to low program fidelity despite their good methodological quality. Given the significant heterogeneity of SSGPs and variations in the design and measurement frameworks of efficacy studies, understanding the generalisability of the findings of this research is unclear.

Feasibility and cross-cultural validation of an adapted social skills group training programme (KONTAKT™ CHILD) for Chinese autistic children: a wait-list RCT protocol

“…Internationally, Social Skills Group Training (SSGT) programmes are demonstrating efficacy in supporting verbal and cognitively able school-aged autistic children in developing their social skills [4, 5, 6]. Multiple meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the efficacy of these programmes in autistic youth report moderate to large effect sizes in achieving personally meaningful social goals, enhancing social skills, social skills knowledge, social participation, and social functioning [4, 7, 8, 9].…”

“…Among interventions for verbal and cognitively capable school-aged autistic children, Social Skills Group Training (SSGT) stands out as an evidence-based group approach [4, 5, 6]. Multiple meta-analyses of SSGT programmes in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) consistently report moderate to large d -type effects in achieving personally meaningful social goals, enhancing social skills, social skills knowledge, social participation, and social functioning [4, 7, 8, 9].…”

“…Internationally, Social Skills Group Training (SSGT) programmes are demonstrating efficacy in supporting verbal and cognitively able school-aged autistic children in developing their social skills [4, 5, 6]. SSGTs facilitate socio-emotional development and promote well-being in autistic children by explicitly and implicitly supporting autistic children in interacting with peers and participating in society more broadly [7].…”

“…However, only a few cultural adaptation studies on SSGT have well-documented and theoretically based methodologies. Moreover, previous SSGT efficacy studies generally lacked input from the target population, despite language translation and the inclusion of culturally relevant content [6].…”

Understanding School Anxiety in Italian Adolescence through an Artificial Neural Network: Influence of Social Skills and Coping Strategies

“…They are related to higher self-esteem, better interpersonal relationships, lower incidence of problem behaviors, and better academic performance [33,34]. These skills are essential for successful adaptation in social situations and may include a variety of behaviors, such as cooperation, assertiveness, empathy, and communication skills, as well as catering to the diversity of the student body [35,36]. It has been observed that students with adequate social skills tend to experience lower levels of anxiety compared to their peers with less developed social skills [37][38][39].…”