Social Communication Disorders in School-Age Children
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
External Scientific Evidence
Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Diagnosis and Management of ADHD in Children, Young People and Adults
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. (2009).
London (UK): The British Psychological Society and The Royal College of Psychiatrists, No. CG72.Added: October 2012
This guideline provides recommendations for the diagnosis and management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults. The guideline is intended for clinicians and service commissioners.
“When using group treatment ([cognitive behavioral therapy] CBT and/or social skills training) for the [school-aged] child or young person in conjunction with a parent-training/education programme, particular emphasis should be given to targeting a range of areas, including social skills with peers, problem solving, self-control, listening skills and dealing with and expressing feelings. Active learning strategies should be used, and rewards given for achieving key elements of learning” (p. 205).
Evidence-Based Systematic Reviews Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder
White, A. H. (2004).
STEER, 4(5).Added: October 2012
This is a review of studies investigating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
"We found evidence that CBT is a feasible treatment option in high-functioning children with ASD. Some children experienced improvements in coping strategies for anxiety promoting situations, behaviour, and social interaction after CBT. However, the lack of reliable controlled studies makes it impossible to attribute these effects to CBT, or to compare effects of CBT with other interventions" (p. 5).
Practitioner Review: Psychosocial Interventions for Children with Selective Mutism: A Critical Evaluation of the Literature from 1990-2005
Cohan, S. L., Chavira, D. A., et al. (2006).
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 47(11), 1085-1097.Added: October 2012
This is a review of peer-reviewed studies that investigated psychosocial interventions for children with selective mutism (SM) who "consistently fail to speak in one or more social settings (e.g., school) despite speaking normally in other settings (e.g., home)" (p. 1085).
- "A potentially effective treatment approach for a typical SM child who experiences significant social anxiety and is mute at school would include individual psychotherapy focusing on communication skills and anxiety management, in addition to a behavioral program implemented concurrently in the school setting to shape appropriate verbal communication" (p. 1094).
- "Taken together, the studies included in this review provide additional support for the use of behavioral and cognitive-behavioral interventions with children suffering from SM" (p. 1094).
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) Services: Final Report on Environmental Scan
Young, J., Corea, C., et al. (2010).
Baltimore, MD: IMPAQ International, 112 pages.Added: October 2012
This is an “environmental scan” of the empirical evidence regarding the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and availability of behavioral and psychosocial interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The evidence, separated by children, transitioning youth, and adults and interventions, is rated as evidence-based, emerging evidence-based, or unestablished within each population.
- Evidence-based: Interventions were considered evidence-based if they were supported with multiple high quality randomized, quasi-experimental or single-subject design studies with no critical design flaws to create confounders to the studies.
- Emerging evidence-based: Emerging evidence-based interventions were those supported with evidence of mixed quality and mixed effects.
- Unestablished: An intervention was considered unestablished based on the poor quality of the studies or the lack of studies showing a positive result.
Unestablished interventions for which “the evidence is seriously lacking” for transitioning youth include AAC, cognitive behavioral, initiation training, modeling, multi-component, naturalistic teaching, self-management, social communication intervention, story-based intervention, and structured teaching (p. 39).
Evidence-Based Social Skills Interventions for Children with Autism: A Meta-Analysis
Wang, P., & Spillane, A. (2009).
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 44(3), 318-342.Added: October 2012
This is a meta-analysis of group experimental or quasi-experimental and single subject studies that investigated the effect of interventions used to increase social skills for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
"More studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of cognitive behavioral training" (p. 337).
Social Skills Interventions for Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders
Schreiber, C. (2011).
Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 13(1), 49-62.Added: October 2012
This is a review of studies that investigated social skills interventions used with children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASD).
- "Clinical approaches using cognitive behavioral therapy have proven to be effective in teaching social skills in isolation to children and adolescents with HFASD, but the ability to use the knowledge in social situations has not been shown to transfer to naturalistic situations" (p. 59).
- "Cognitive behavioral therapy or social skills instruction in a group setting for individuals with HFASD is a potentially effective way to teach social skills, and the group setting may foster friendships. However, in order for the skills to be maintained and generalized, they must be practiced in a naturalistic environment" (p. 59).
Clinical Expertise/Expert Opinion
Consensus Guidelines No consensus guidelines were found.
No information was found pertaining to client/patient/caregiver perspectives.
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