Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills for adolescents with an acquired brain injury: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

AIM: To test the efficacy of a group social skills intervention on social functioning in adolescents with a brain injury. METHOD: Thirty-six adolescents (mean age 14y, SD 1y 8mo, age range 12y 1mo-16y 3mo; 17 females) with acquired brain injury (ABI; ≥12mo postintervention; n=19) or cerebral palsy (n=17) were randomly allocated to the Program for the Education in Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) or usual care. The primary outcome was the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (SSIS-RS). Secondary outcomes were scores derived from the Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge-Revised (TASSK-R), Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition, and Quality of Socialization Questionnaire. Between-group differences postintervention and at the 26-week retention time point were compared using linear mixed modelling for continuous outcomes and Poisson regression for count data. RESULTS: There were no between-group differences on the primary outcome (SSIS-RS). Regarding the secondary outcomes, the PEERS-exposed group achieved significantly greater improvements on the TASSK-R (mean difference [MD]=6.8, 95% confidence interval [CI]=4.8-8.8, p<0.001), which were maintained at the 26-week retention time point (MD=8.1, 95% CI=6.0-10.2, p<0.001). PEERS was also associated with a significant increase in parent-reported invited get-togethers at 26 weeks (incidence rate ratio=4.0, 95% CI=1.0-16.0, p=0.05). INTERPRETATION: Adolescents with brain injury who completed the PEERS learned and retained social knowledge and increased social participation.1469-8749Gilmore, Rose <br />Orcid: 0000-0002-7819-6045 <br />Ziviani, Jenny <br />Mcintyre, Sarah <br />Smithers Sheedy, Hayley <br />Orcid: 0000-0002-0082-2413 <br />Hilton, Nicola <br />Williams, Tracey <br />Chatfield, Mark D <br />Laugeson, Elizabeth <br />Sakzewski, Leanne <br />Orcid: 0000-0001-5395-544x <br />Friends Project Group <br />Journal Article <br />Randomized Controlled Trial <br />Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't <br />England <br />Dev Med Child Neurol. 2022 Jun;64(6):771-779. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.15144. Epub 2022 Jan 28. <br />