Strategies for enhancing social skills of individuals with intellectual disability: A systematic review.
Social-skills programs for people with ID can work, but only when you use strong BST and explicit generalization steps.
01Research in Context
What this study did
UMoya et al. (2022) looked at every social-skills study they could find for people with intellectual disability. They pulled the papers together and asked, 'Do these programs really help?'
The team only kept studies that measured real social behavior, not just what people said they learned. They wanted to know if skills stuck and moved to new places and people.
What they found
The review found small, weak gains overall. Kids and adults learned the skills in the teaching room, but the skills rarely showed up later or with new friends.
Most studies had few people and short follow-ups. Because of that, the team could not say the programs work well in everyday life.
How this fits with other research
Gilmore et al. (2022) tell a brighter story. Their meta-analysis of teens with autism found moderate gains from group social-skills classes. The difference: Rose counted knowledge and test scores, while US et al. only counted real-world use.
Single-case studies like Hui Shyuan Ng et al. (2016) and Spriggs et al. (2016) show big, fast gains when behavioral skills training plus video modeling is used. These strong results sit inside the weak pool that US et al. reviewed. The lesson: method matters. Good BST packages work, but many weak studies drag the average down.
Capio et al. (2013) warned us nine years earlier that research in this area is thin. UMoya et al. (2022) confirm the warning still stands.
Why it matters
Do not drop social-skills training. Use the parts that single-case work shows work: model, role-play, feedback, and video. Then plan for generalization from day one: practice in the cafeteria, on the bus, and with new peers. Keep data after the group ends so you know if the skill travels.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add one out-of-room practice trial each session: walk the learner to the actual lunch line and rehearse ordering.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with intellectual disability who suffer from comorbid mental health problems are likely to experience difficulties in socialising. Deficits in social skills are also associated with challenging behaviours and self-injury. This paper presents global evidence from a systematic review of literature on such issues as 'interventions'; 'social skills development', and 'individuals with intellectual disability'. A thorough search of various bibliographic databases identified 1 124 academic papers. Ten papers met the inclusion criteria for in-depth analysis concerning the use of interventions to develop social skills among individuals with intellectual disability. The study revealed that the social skills of individuals with intellectual disability had been fostered using different strategies, such as classroom-based intervention, emotional intelligence training, use of a peer network intervention, computer games of emotion regulation, and puppet play therapy. Furthermore, the findings suggest that various aspects like communication, bridging the gap in social skills deficits, emotional recognition and regulation, and adaptive behaviour were fostered using the identified intervention strategy. This review revealed that social skills interventions appeared modestly effective but may not be generalisable to school settings or self-reported social behaviour for individuals with intellectual disability. It is also necessary to increase the sample size in future studies to draw generalisable conclusions.
, 2022 · doi:10.3389/fresc.2022.968314