This study provides results on a methodological quality review of the single-case research literature from 1998 to 2014 on the use of social skills interventions for students with challenging behavior. A systematic review of the social skills literature was conducted with the intent of updating the Mathur et al. study of social skills interventions. Twenty-four studies, published between 1998 and 2014, were identified and coded for methodological quality. Findings indicated half the studies failed to meet single-case design standards. Many studies did not sufficiently report reliability, implementation fidelity, or provide adequate opportunities to demonstrate intervention effect. The three most common behaviors across all studies were noncompliance, negative verbal interactions, and class disruptions. The majority of studies were conducted in early elementary grades. Results are discussed in the context of the need for greater methodological rigor for future single-case research st...

A multisite cluster randomized trial was conducted to examine the effects of the Social Skills Improvement System Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP; Elliott & Gresham, 2007) on students' classroom social behavior. The final sample included 432 students across 38 second grade classrooms. Social skills and problem behaviors were measured via the SSIS rating scale for all participants, and direct observations were completed for a subsample of participants within each classroom. Results indicated that the SSIS-CIP demonstrated positive effects on teacher ratings of participants' social skills and internalizing behaviors, with the greatest changes occurring in classrooms with students who exhibited lower skill proficiency prior to implementation. Statistically significant differences were not observed between treatment and control participants on teacher ratings of externalizing problem behaviors or direct observation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights res...

Studies have highlighted the difficulty of conducting interventions with parents when what motivates them to seek therapy is a behavioral problem of a child. As a way of preventing and treating this complaint an intervention procedure was prepared and applied with school children, with the aim of promoting better social interactions between the children and their peers. The aim of the study was to verify whether the social skills learned by the children during the intervention were generalized for the school and family environments. A total of 7 children participated in the study, who were enrolled in the second year of elementary school and presented behavioral problems at a clinical level in the school and family environments. To evaluate the results the following instruments were used: CBCL, TRF, SSRQ-parents, SSRQ-teachers, RE-SHE-P, and an observation protocol. The intervention procedure had a duration of 8 sessions in which the teaching of social skills was performed, the themes of which were: To greet, to initiate conversations and civility; to thank, to say good things and express opinions; to make friends, to help, play and share things; to wait their turn and control themselves; to make, answer requests and to thank; to name feelings and empathy; to compliment, kiss and hug; to admit mistakes, apologize and listen to criticism. The results indicated that, based on the reports of the parents and teachers, there were improvements in the behavior of the children, although not to the point of leaving the clinical level, however, from the observation protocol the parents and children presented a high frequency of skilled behaviors and a low frequency of unskilled behaviors.

Objective: The main objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of social skill training as a classroom program in schoolgirl students of a primary school with a control group. Method: The 4th grade school girls of two classes in a primary school and at least one of their parents or caregivers participated in this study and they were allocated in the case and control groups. The student's age range was 9-11 years. The social skill education program was designed for primary school children by child and adolescent psychiatry department of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Demographic characteristics were recorded in a designed questionnaire , and included name, age, prior history of psychiatric and medical condition, and prior history of participation in a social skill education program. Achenbach Child Behavior Check List parent's report form (CBCL) was used before and after the study in the case group to evaluate the efficacy of the program interventions...

The purpose of this study was to examine the social validity of the Social Skills Improvement System-Classwide Intervention Program (SSIS-CIP) for teachers in the primary grades. Participants included 45 first and second grade teachers who completed a 16-item social validity questionnaire during each year of the SSIS-CIP efficacy trial. Findings indicated that teachers generally perceived the SSIS-CIP as a socially valid and feasible intervention for primary grades; however, teachers' ratings regarding ease of implementation and relevance and sequence demonstrated differences across grade levels in the second year of implementation. (PsycINFO Database Record