PEERS® for adolescents with an acquired brain injury: A randomized controlled trial
The following is an extract from an Australian study that looked into the effect of the PEERS® program on individuals with an acquired brain injury. The results suggest that with some modifications, the program is suitable for this group, which shows participants were able to gain and attain social knowledge with an increase in get-togethers. Read more below…
Authors: Rose Gilmore, Jenny Ziviani, Sarah Mcintyre, Haley Smithers Sheedy, Nicola Hilton, Tracey Williams, Mark D. Chatfield, Elizabeth Laugeson, Leanne Sakzewski, The Friends Group Project.
Adolescents with an acquired brain injury (ABI) or cerebral palsy (CP) can experience challenges with many aspects of social functioning, such as social problem-solving, pragmatic language and speech difficulties, interpreting the emotions of others, and regulating their own emotional responses.
These difficulties, along with often reduced social opportunities, motor and sensory impairments, and persisting physical symptoms, such as pain and fatigue, can result in social isolation, reduced social participation, or rejection by peers.
Prevalence rates for difficulties with social functioning in these populations are emerging, with studies reporting 23% to 50% of children with traumatic brain injury and 33% to 45% of children with CP experiencing problems with social functioning, which can increase over time and persist into adulthood.
The aim of this research was to determine the efficacy of PEERS® to improve the social competence and friendship skills of adolescents with a brain injury. We hypothesised that adolescents receiving PEERS would achieve significantly greater gains in self- and caregiver-reported social skills, improved social knowledge, a reduction in caregiver-reported social impairments, and an increase in social participation compared to waiting list/care as usual.
What this paper adds:
• Adolescents with a brain injury can learn and retain social knowledge.
• The Program for the Education in Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS) can improve social participation in adolescents with brain injury.
• PEERS can be adapted for Australian adolescents with brain injury.