PEERS Intervention With Adolescents: Are There Broader Effects on the Family?

The effectiveness of the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) intervention in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been well-established; however, there is limited research on the impact of the intervention on family functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine second-hand effects of PEERS on broader family life and what factors may impact parent perceptions of their youth with ASD and family functioning following the intervention. The current study included adolescents with ASD and their caregivers, who all participated in the PEERS intervention, and a comparison group of twenty typically developing (TD) adolescents and their caregivers who did not participate in the PEERS intervention. Caregivers reported on measures of their youth’s autism symptom severity, social skills, problem behaviors, and impact of the youth on the family. All measures were assessed at pre- and post- intervention and at four-month follow up. Results supported improvements in ASD youths’ ASD autism symptom severity, social skills, and problem behaviors following the PEERS intervention. There were no changes detected in impact of the ASD youth on the family following the intervention. ASD youth problem behaviors were a driving factor in parent report of negative family impact. These findings highlight the need to further understand the relationships among youth problem behaviors, family perceptions and social skills interventions in designing studies targeting broader parent and family outcomes