Social skills training in conjunction with parent training: The effects

The development of social skills in children is of primary importance in predicting a child\u27s healthy development. Social competence in early childhood significantly predicts future academic achievement, health related outcomes, and self-efficacy in social situations in later life. Parent training has been shown to both reduce negative parenting styles and produce improvements in children\u27s pro-social behavior. The current study compared the effects of social skills training in combination with parent training to determine the additive effects of a Social Skills Training (SST) program. Participants consisted of 27 families with children (ages 2½ to 6) randomly assigned to either a 5- ( n = 13) or a 10-week ( n = 14) intervention/control group. Parent reports yielded no significant treatment effects for either treatment condition, however observational measure showed a significant decrease in antisocial behaviors within the 10-week treatment group. Results also showed that addition of the SST program significantly reduced attrition. Implications and limitations are discussed