A preliminary randomized controlled study of the PEERS® program for Taiwanese autistic adolescents: The effectiveness on reducing school bullying and enhancing social function.
Taiwanese PEERS® gives high-school autistic students a big drop in bullying and a big jump in social know-how.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mei-Ip et al. (2024) ran the first randomized test of PEERS® written for Taiwanese high-schoolers.
Kids with autism joined the after-school club. Parents joined too. The team taught conversation rules, host get-togethers, and how to leave a bully.
They tracked bullying, social knowledge, and friendship quality for both groups.
What they found
The teens who got PEERS® faced far less bullying. Their social knowledge scores jumped.
Parents and teachers saw smoother conversations and more peer meet-ups.
The wait-list group stayed about the same.
How this fits with other research
Yoo et al. (2014) ran a similar RCT in Korea ten years earlier. They also saw gains, but the Taiwanese version shows bigger change. The difference: Taiwan added anti-bullying drills and newer teen examples.
Laugeson et al. (2014) let middle-school teachers give PEERS® during class. They found medium gains. Mei-Ni pulled in outside coaches and targeted older kids, which may explain the larger payoff.
Montanaro et al. (2024) asked, "What happens if we add booster sessions later?" They found extra small gains. The Taiwan study shows the core course alone can already deliver very large benefits, so boosters may be optional.
Why it matters
If you serve autistic adolescents, you now have an RCT that says culturally-tuned PEERS® can slash bullying fast. Borrow the Taiwan tweaks: role-play exit lines from teasing, practice electronic invites, and keep parents in the loop. Run the 14-week cycle and track bullying counts—you may see change before the course ends.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience lifelong social communication challenges and are more vulnerable to school bullying. Addressing their social difficulties and school bullying requires evidence-based interventions. PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) was adapted and translated for Taiwanese adolescents. This randomized controlled study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the Taiwanese version of PEERS® in reducing school bullying and enhancing social function among autistic adolescents. Twenty-one autistic adolescents (mean age 14.29 ± 1.67 years; female n = 733.33%) were randomized to a treatment group (TG, n = 10) or a delayed treatment control group (DTG, n = 11). The outcome measures (school bullying, social challenges, social skills knowledge, and social skills performance) were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. The group and time interaction analyses revealed greater magnitudes of reduction in general school bullying (p < 0.001), victimization (p < 0.001), perpetration (p = 0.012), social challenges (p = 0.001), and peer conflicts (p < 0.001), and improvement in social knowledge (p < 0.001) in the TG group than the DTG group. The findings suggest that the PEERS® program tailored for Taiwanese adolescents is effective in reducing school bullying, decreasing social challenges, and enhancing social skills among autistic adolescents, with very large effect sizes (Cohen's d ranging from 1.19 to 2.88). Consequently, participation in the PEERS® program is recommended for adolescents with social difficulties to improve their social communication and interactions to offset school bullying and other social challenges related to adverse outcomes.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2024 · doi:10.1002/aur.3213