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Last week, while discussing a study that compared medication and psychotherapy for the treatment of teen depression, I mentioned how the current research suggests that the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as treatment for depression in adolescents may vary significantly as a function of small variations between the different versions of CBT used by clinicians. That is, not all CBTs are the same and some types appear to be more effective than others. Are other interventions also sensitive to subtle variations?
Last night I read a recent article published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders that compared two similar social skills intervention groups for children with Autism. Social Skills Group Intervention, or SS-GRIN, is one of the most effective social skills training programs for typically developing children and teens with social difficulties. This intervention uses CBT and social learning techniques to teach social skills and peer relations to “at-risk†kids, such as those experiencing severe peer rejection.
Social skills therapy generally has been found to be of mixed effectiveness when used with children and teens with high functioning autism (HFA). Some studies have suggested that it works while others suggest that it doesn’t. However, the type of social skills programs used in previous studies has varied significantly and some studies included implementation of programs designed to teach social skills to typically developing kids, such as SS-GRIN.