Social Skills Training for Schizophrenic Patients

Physically aggressive elderly: a social skills training program

The present investigation utilized a social skills training program to eliminate physically aggressive behavior in a group of six institutionalized elderly patients. The treatment package consisted of instructions, modeling, role playing and feedback. Dependent measures included confirmed incidents of physically aggressive behavior monitored across an ABAB design with a 5-month follow-up period. Results indicated that physically aggressive behavior can be significantly decreased in a group training setting and subsequently generalized to ward and other socialized behavior. Ancillary aspects of the study include the differential properties associated with physical and verbal aggression, the role of vicarious reinforcement on behavior, and generalization effects.

Social skills training and negative symptoms

Schizophrenic patients with severe negative symptoms may have an impaired capacity to benefit from social skills training (SST), and their negative symptoms may show little change as a result of SST. The present study, employing a multiple-baseline design across-behaviors with three patients who had prominent negative schizophrenic symptoms, combined nonverbal skills training with the Stacking the Deck social skills game. Further, the study examined changes in both social skills (assessed using role-play and conversation tests) and negative symptoms. Depression, extrapyramidal side effects, and positive symptoms were also monitored. Modest improvements in social skills and negative symptoms were achieved. There was little evidence of a training effect. The unstable baselines may have contributed to this finding. It is important for further research to employ comprehensive patient-assessment procedures.

Social behavior of students who are seriously emotionally disturbed. A quantitative analysis of intervention studies

The social behavior of students who are seriously emotionally disturbed sets them apart from their normative classroom peers. This article provides a quantitative analysis of intervention studies dealing with the social behavior of seriously emotionally disturbed students. Social behavior was broadly defined as including social skills deficits, behavior under inadequate stimulus control, and inappropriate behavior in the classroom. Of the 28 studies located, 11 dealt with some aspect of social skills and 17 with inappropriate classroom behavior. Each study was analyzed with respect to (a) the age, gender, and classification of the subjects; (b) the setting, referral source, and therapist; (c) the dependent and independent variables; (d) type of evaluation design used; (e) reliability of the dependent and independent variable; (f) social validation; (g) programmed generalization, maintenance, and follow-up; (h) measurement of collateral behaviors; (i) functional analysis of the target behavior; and (j) efficacy rating of the results on a 3-point scale. The results are presented and discussed in terms of current status and implications for future research.