The Effects of Social Skills Training as a Preventive Approach for Children in the Community Setting

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of social skills training (SST) for children in two different community settings, an elementary school and a child community center. METHODS: Two separate groups of 15 children (10 boys and 5 girls) and 13 children (4 boys and 9 girls) participated in a SST program twice per week at an elementary school and a child community center, respectively. Age range of participants was from 8 to 10 years. Sixty-minute-long sessions of SST were continued twice per week for 4 weeks. Korean-Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), Conner's Rating Scales, Korean-Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale (K-ARS), Social Skills Rating System (SSRS), and Matson's Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (MESSY) were evaluated by their parents before and after the SST program. RESULTS: Pre-and-post analysis of SST indicated no significant statistical differences in the elementary school group. However, the child community center group showed significantly increased scores for total social ability (p<.05) and decreased scores for attention problem (p<.05) on the K-CBCL. In addition, scores of MESSY were significantly increased (p<.05). These differences between the two groups were still significant after controlling pre-SST scores ; and difference of SST scores between the two groups disappeared after SST. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that SST in the community setting is an effective tool for prevention of social deficits and problems in attention by promoting social function and attention.