A peer-mediated intervention with clinic-referred socially isolated girls. Generalization, maintenance, and social validation.
Train two classmates as recess helpers and socially isolated kids quickly join peer games, with gains that last months and spread to new settings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two clinic-referred girls who played alone at recess got peer helpers. The researchers taught two to three classmates how to invite, share, and give compliments. They used a multiple-baseline design across the girls to show the teaching, not luck, caused any change.
Sessions happened in the regular school yard. Observers counted positive social acts like talking, smiling, and joining games. They also tracked if the new skills moved to a second recess period and lasted four months later.
What they found
Both girls jumped from near-zero play to typical peer levels after peer helpers arrived. The gains showed up right when training started, proving the peer helpers made the difference. Skills moved to a new recess yard and stayed strong four months later, even after helpers stopped coming.
How this fits with other research
Christopher et al. (1991) ran the same peer-helper plan two years later with boys and girls and got the same big, lasting gains. This direct replication tells us the method works across genders, not just for girls.
Rodríguez-Medina et al. (2016) moved the idea to one boy with autism. One trained peer at recess still lifted social bids and cut solo time. The core logic—train a buddy, see interaction rise—holds for kids with ASD too.
Raslear et al. (1992) stretched the model even further. They trained several withdrawn adults in a psychiatric facility to serve as peer therapists. Social talk rose and stayed up for four months. The peer-helper concept travels from elementary yard to adult residence without losing power.
Why it matters
You do not need a big clinic room or pricey gear. Pick two friendly classmates, give them a short script—invite, share, praise—and set them loose at recess. Track simple counts like ‘joins game’ or ‘smiles back.’ If the target child jumps when helpers arrive and stays up when they fade, you have a cheap, durable fix for isolation that works from preschool to adult day programs.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Peer-mediated interventions have been widely employed with seriously impaired autistic and handicapped children to modify social withdrawal. This study extends the literature by examining the impact of a peer intervention on the interactions of developmentally normal, socially isolated girls. Two to three actual classroom peers were trained to serve as helpers to initiate and maintain interactions with the subjects. The intervention was introduced sequentially across 2 girls in a multiple-baseline design, and a within-subject ABA withdrawal design was used to assess maintenance. Behavioral observations during recess periods indicated that both children's positive social interactions with peer helpers and other classmates were increased significantly during intervention and were maintained in return-to-baseline conditions and at 4-month follow-up. Increases in positive social interactions of both subjects generalized to a second recess setting, in which intervention was not introduced. Subjects' interactions in both recess settings reached levels comparable to those of social-comparison groups of peers. Teacher and self-report ratings suggested that both girls had fewer social problems and experienced less loneliness and dysphoria as a result of the intervention.
Behavior modification, 1989 · doi:10.1177/01454455890131002