Social Skills Training with Children and Young People: Theory, Evidence and Practice

Deficits in social skills and social competence play a significant role in the development and maintenance of many emotional and behavioural disorders of childhood and adolescence. Social skills training (SST) aims to increase the ability to perform key social behaviours that are important in achieving success in social situations. Behavioural SST methods include instructions, modelling, behaviour rehearsal, feedback and reinforcement, frequently used in association with interpersonal problem solving and social perception skills training. Effective change in social behaviour also requires interventions that reduce inhibiting and competing behaviours, such as cognitive restructuring, self- and emotional-regulation methods and contingency management. Research suggests that SST alone is unlikely to produce significant and lasting change in psychopathology or global indicators of social competence. Rather, SST has become a widely accepted component of multi-method approaches to the treatment of many emotional, behavioural and developmental disorders.