Social-skills interventions with adolescents. Current issues and procedures.
Social-skills training for teens now means planning for real-life use from the start.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Reiss et al. (1993) wrote a narrative review about social-skills training for teens.
They looked at how the field had moved past just teaching new skills.
The paper focused on making skills last and transfer to real life.
What they found
The review showed a big shift in practice.
Programs now planned for generalization and maintenance from day one.
The authors said this was the new standard for adolescent work.
How this fits with other research
Chandler et al. (1992) had already made the same point for preschoolers.
Their review said most early studies ignored generalization.
Reiss et al. (1993) echoed that call, but for teens.
Spriggs et al. (2016) later proved it works.
They used BST plus video modeling in a high school.
All four students kept their new skills in new places.
Gilmore et al. (2022) looked at 16 RCTs of group programs.
They found solid gains in social knowledge, but weak proof of real-life use.
Together these papers show the field listened: plan for transfer, then measure it.
Why it matters
If you run social-skills groups for teens, build generalization into every lesson.
Train loosely, use common stimuli, and self-monitor.
Check if skills last weeks later in the cafeteria, not just in your room.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
During adolescence, the interpersonal interactions and behaviors necessary for successful social functioning become increasingly complex. In recent years, social-skills training with adolescents has made a variety of advances beyond basic skill acquisition toward techniques designed to promote generalization and maintenance of an effective interpersonal repertoire. This article reviews relevant empirical literature for current issues and procedures in social-skills training with adolescents, including use of social-skills interventions for a variety of adolescent populations and problems, use of innovative and promising intervention procedures, and issues regarding generalization and social validity of intervention procedures.
Behavior modification, 1993 · doi:10.1177/01454455930173005