Predicting Treatment Outcomes of a Teacher-Facilitated Social Skills Intervention
for Adolescents with Autism: The School-Based UCLA PEERS Program
Mary Goodarzi, Yasamine Bolourian, Lindsay Henry, Ruth Ellingsen, Lara Tucci, Shannon Bates, and Elizabeth Laugeson
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
The Help Group- UCLA Autism Research Alliance
Funded by the Nathan and Lily Shapell Foundation
BACKGROUND
 Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) present with an
array of social deficits including poor social communication, poor social
cognition, and difficulty developing and maintaining meaningful
relationships (Reichow & Volkmar, 2010).
 Social skills training during adolescence is critical, yet few evidencebased programs exist (White, Koenig, Scahill, 2007).
 PEERS (Laugeson & Frankel, 2010) is one of the few empirically
supported social skills intervention for high-functioning teenagers with
ASD using parent-mediated strategies (Laugeson et al., 2009; Laugeson
et al., 2011).
 Although parental involvement in social skills training has established
efficacy, not all parents are able to participate in treatment. Therefore,
providing social skills instruction in the classroom may prove to be a
more inclusive approach.
 While PEERS has demonstrated efficacy in improving social skills using
parent-mediated methods, the effectiveness of PEERS in the classroom
using teacher-facilitation is unknown.
 The current study seeks to identify factors associated with predicting
positive treatment outcomes using a school-based teacher-facilitated
PEERS intervention in the classroom.
PARTICIPANTS
 Participants were recruited from The Help Group Village Glen Middle
School, a nonpublic school for adolescents with ASD:
 N=73 middle school students diagnosed with ASD
 Grade: M=8th grade; SD=0.50; Range=7th to 8th grade
 Age: M=12; SD=0.67; Range=12 to 14 years of age
 Gender: 90% male, 10% female
 Ethnicity: Caucasian 69% (n=50); Hispanic 14% (n=10); African
American 5% (n=4); Asian American 4% (n=3); Middle Eastern 4%
(n=3); Other 4% (n=3)
METHODS
 The PEERS Treatment Manual was adapted for the classroom setting to
incorporate teachers as facilitators of the lessons.
 Teachers and Teaching Assistants were trained on the PEERS
curriculum and received weekly supervision from research staff.
 The curriculum was implemented over one school semester.
 14 social skills lessons were conducted daily in classrooms for 30
minutes at a time.
 Predictors of treatment outcome were examined using standardized
measures of social functioning.
MEASURES
 Outcome data was collected at pre- and post-treatment to include:
 Social Responsiveness Scale- Teacher Report (SRS-T: Constanino &
Gruber, 2005)
 Social Skills Rating System- Teacher Report (SSRS-T: Gresham &
Elliot, 1990)
RESULTS
Social Cognition, Social Responsiveness, & Social
Communication before PEERS
STRUCTURE OF THE SESSIONS
 Day One: Teens report on the results of their homework assignment
from the previous week, while teachers troubleshoot any problems
that may have arisen.
 Day Two: Teacher facilitated didactic presentation, which includes
role-playing demonstrations of the targeted social skills.
 Day Three: Review of previously learned social skill with a role-playing
demonstration, followed by a behavioral rehearsal with performance
feedback and coaching from teachers and teaching assistants,
concluding with a homework assignment to generalize the skill outside
of the classroom setting.
 Days Four and Five: Socialization activities are conducted in which
the teens practice the skills taught during the didactic lesson in a
more naturalistic environment, while receiving performance feedback
through coaching.
DESCRIPTION OF SOCIAL SKILLS LESSONS
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How to use appropriate conversational skills
How to find common interests by trading information
How to appropriately use electronic communication
How to appropriately use humor
How to choose appropriate friends
How to enter and exit conversations between peers
How to be a good host during get-togethers
How to be a good sport
How to handle rejection, teasing, and physical bullying
How to handle arguments and disagreements
How to handle rumors and gossip
How to change a bad reputation
For additional information please contact:
Mary Goodarzi at peersclinic@ucla.edu or (310) 26-PEERS
Visit the PEERS website at www.semel.ucla.edu/peers
 Improvement in social skills was measured by calculating the difference
between pre-and post-intervention Social Skills Total Scores on the
SSRS-T.
 Baseline scores on the SRS-T reflecting better Social Cognition predict
improvement in social skills on the SSRS-T (p<.05).
 Baseline scores on the SRS-T reflecting better Social Responsiveness
and Social Communication predicted improvement in social skills at a
trend level on the SSRS-T (p<.10).
DISCUSSION
 According to teacher-report, teens exhibiting greater impairment in
social cognition pre-intervention demonstrated greater improvement in
their social functioning at the end of treatment.
 Teacher-reports also suggest teens exhibiting greater impairment in
overall social responsiveness and social communication prior to
treatment, may demonstrate greater improvement in their social
functioning post-intervention.
 Teacher-reports of teen social awareness, social motivation, and autistic
mannerisms did not predict change in social skills post-treatment.
REFERENCES
Constantino, J. & Gruber, C. (2005). Social Responsiveness Scale. Western Psychological Services: Torrance, CA.
Gresham, F.M. & Elliott, S.N. (1990). Social Skills Rating System. American Guidance Service: Circle Pines, MN.
Laugeson, E. & Frankel, F. (2010). Social Skills for Teenagers with Developmental and Autism Spectrum
Disorders: The PEERS Treatment Manual. New York: Brunner-Routledge.
Laugeson, E. A., Frankel, F., Mogil, C., & Dillon, A. R. (2009). Parent-assisted social skills training to improve
friendships in teens with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 39,
596-606.
Laugeson, E. A., Frankel, F., Gantman, A., Dillon, A. R., & Mogil, C. (2011). Evidence-based social skills
training for adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: The UCLA PEERS program. Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-011-1339-1.
Reichow, B. & Volkmar, F. R. (2010). Social skills interventions for individuals with autism: Evaluation for
evidence-based practices within a best evidence synthesis framework. Journal of Autism and
Developmental Disorders, 40, 149-166.
White, S. W., Keonig, K., & Scahill, L. (2007). Social skills development in children with autism spectrum
disorders: A review of the intervention research. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37,
1858-1868.