Effectiveness of Social Skills Training Group for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

NCT ID: NCT04551313

Last Updated: 2023-08-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 86 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-10-19
• Study Completion Date: 2022-07-27

Brief Summary

Socio-communicative impairments are core deficits in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals with ASD have difficulty understanding eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and different tones of voice when communicating with others. They can't interpret the thoughts and feelings of others, or predict social events, and the impaired social skills may lead to rejection of peers and poor participation in school.

Social skills training targets the core symptoms of ASD. Empirical support is building for cognitive-behavioral intervention approach, social skills training group for verbally fluent, school-aged children with ASD. Several studies have shown the efficacy of the social story intervention. It is usually provided individually, but we want to use it in the group.

Detailed Description

Many different intervention program have been used throughout the world. One alternative method used to teach children is the social stories method, which was created by Gray (1993) to address the social difficulties of children with ASD. The theoretical framework of the social stories is based on theory of mind (TOM) hypothesis. Difficulties associated with the impaired TOM was addressed by explaining the complex social concepts in simple words and often include the description of perspectives of others. Several studies have shown the efficacy of the social story intervention. It is usually provided individually, but we want to use it in the group.

In this study, we plan to randomly assign thirty-six 5-7-year-old children with ASD to one of two kinds of social skills groups: the social skills group or the play activities group (control condition). Group met for 16 weeks, one time per week, one hour each time. Participants were recruited between October 2020 and September 2023. Assessment were conducted at baseline and endpoint (16 weeks). To empower parents, we would also ask parents of participants to attend our treatment and lecture.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

social skill training group

We plan to address basic interactional and conversational skills first, then focus on teaching perspective-taking and theory of mind skills.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

social skill group

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

We plan to address basic interactional and conversational skills first, then focus on teaching perspective-taking and theory of mind skills.

control group

Regular therapy

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

social skill group

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

We plan to address basic interactional and conversational skills first, then focus on teaching perspective-taking and theory of mind skills.

Interventions

social skill group

We plan to address basic interactional and conversational skills first, then focus on teaching perspective-taking and theory of mind skills.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Clinical diagnosis of Autism spectrum disorder
• Must be able to understand 3-steps verbal commands

Exclusion Criteria

• Mental retardation
• Seizure

• Minimum Eligible Age: 5 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 6 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Taiwan University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Fu-Mei Chiang, MAMS

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Taiwan University Hospital

Locations

National Taiwan University Hospital

Taipei, , Taiwan

NTUH

Taipei, , Taiwan

Countries

Taiwan

Other Identifiers

202006158RINA

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id