Megan’s Research Corner: Social Skills Groups
by Megan Miller, MT-BC
Group social skills interventions are a great opportunity for our students to practice social skills they are learning in individual sessions! This is why MTCCA partners with Banding Together to provide free, music therapy groups for young children through young adults. So we decided to take a closer look at a research study that analyzed the effectiveness of group social skills interventions on social functioning for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). *Check out the citation for the full article at the bottom of the page and give it a read as well!
This article took a closer look at 18 different group social skills interventions by completing a meta-analysis, and the findings were quite interesting. These interventions treated people ages 5-21 years old with a formal diagnosis of ASD, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, and Asberger’s Syndrome. They measured outcomes using parent, teacher, and self reports on social functioning. Altogether, these three categories showed that group social skills interventions showed a “medium effect” on social competence, meaning that these interventions were moderately effective!
While a moderate difference may not sound too exciting, it can be a big deal. Most of the assessments used in the study measured skills used in everyday life, not just in the group interventions. This means that any difference reported had an effect on a participant at school or home, positively impacting their ability to interact with others. This is great news! In addition, participant ratings on their own social competence revealed that group social skills had a “large effect,” or made a big difference, on social competence. Parent and teacher reports agreed with this as well.
However, the article showed that there are some things we need to consider when we are designing group social skills interventions for individuals with special needs. Although these participants gained knowledge about social skills in these groups, they reported their actual social behaviors did not change as much. This is a big problem because we use group social skills interventions to actually help people with their social skills. That is the whole point! This is why providing opportunities for application of the social skills in music therapy groups is very important.
Lucky for us, music therapy is a great tool for applying previously learned skills! Group drumming is an excellent example for how music can help a participant with social awareness. During this music experience, participants are following nonverbal cues, watching the leader, and maybe even taking leadership roles themselves. The music and rhythm provide cues for things such as when to play or how loud to be. These are all skills that we use in everyday social situations. So if you are using music therapy groups or social song stories to teach Social Thinking©️ concepts such as following the group plan or expected and unexpected behavior, be sure to give your participants opportunities to put these skills into practice, whether it’s with group drumming or another creative music experience!
Leaving this post a little overwhelmed? Here are three main takeaways from the original article:
- Group social skills interventions had a moderately positive impact on social functioning.
- Participants expressed improvement in understanding social concepts, while reporting not as much improvement in the actual application of these concepts.
- When designing group music therapy experiences, providing opportunities for the application of learned social skills is essential.
Be sure to follow the citation below and read the full paper if you are interested in learning more!
Reference
Gates, J.A., Kang, E., & Lerner, M.D. (2017). Efficacy of group social skills interventions for youth with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 52, 164-181.