Symposia
Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders
Hadley McGregor, M.A.
University of California, Los Angeles
Huntington Beach, California
Chase Keyler, MA
Research Assistant
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Hillary Schiltz, MS
Doctoral Intern
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Christine Moody, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Elizabeth A. Laugeson, Psy.D.
Associate Clinical Professor
UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
Los Angeles, California
Introduction: Practicing socialization homework (HW) with peers and parent social coaches is central to PEERS® for Adolescents, an evidence-based social skills intervention for teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other social challenges (Zheng et al., 2021). Though specific HW assignments have shown correlations with outcomes (Veytsman et al., 2015), the role of broad HW compliance in PEERS® treatment response is unknown. Given difficulties with skills generalization in ASD (Jonsson et al., 2016), these teens may especially benefit from additional practice. This study examined HW completion as a predictor of treatment outcomes, and tested ASD diagnosis as a moderator.
Methods: Participants included 100 adolescents (Mage=14.00, SD=1.97; 54% with ASD) and parents who completed the 16-week PEERS® for Adolescents intervention. HW assignments were classified as peer-based (e.g., get-togethers with peers) or parent-based (e.g., practice starting conversations with parents). Outcome measures collected pre- and post-intervention included get-togethers (Quality of Socialization Questionnaire; QSQ), social knowledge (Test of Adolescent Social Skills Knowledge; TASSK), social skills (Social Skills Improvement System; SSIS; Gresham & Eliot, 2008), and autism features (Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition;SRS-2; Constantino & Gruber, 2012). A series of multiple linear regressions tested HW completion types as predictors of each outcome, controlling for the respective measure pre-intervention.
Results: Autistic and non-autistic adolescents reported similar rates of HW completion (ns), but parents of autistic adolescents reported significantly more HW completion (Peer HW: p< .01; Parent HW: p< .01). Teen-reported Peer HW (p< .01) and Parent HW (p< .01) both significantly predicted TASSK scores post-intervention. Both teen- (p=.01) and parent-reported (p< .01) Peer HW predicted QSQ scores post-intervention, while parent-reported Peer HW predicted SSIS scores (p=.03). HW completion did not predict SRS-2 scores post-intervention. For all significant results, greater HW completion predicted more positive outcomes. diagnosis HW completion did not interact with ASD diagnosis.
Discussion Homework emerged as a potent predictor of treatment outcome in PEERS® for Adolescents for all teens. Specifically, peer-based homework may be particularly powerful in social skills training. Differences in parent reported homework completion are consistent with increased parent involvement in autistic teens’ lives.