Improving emotional competence in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability in schools : a preliminary treatment versus waitlist study

This pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of delivering a new cognitive behavioural intervention package 'Emotion-Based Social Skills Training (EBSST) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Mild Intellectual Disability (ASD + MID)' in schools. Fourteen school counsellors nominated 75 children (aged 7-13 years) with ASD + MID to receive 16 sessions of EBSST in groups of 3-8 children in their schools. Parent and teacher pre-post ratings of emotional competence (Emotions Development Questionnaire), social skills (Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scales) and mental health (Developmental Behaviour Checklist) were collected. Forty-three children received 16 sessions of EBSST and 32 children were allocated to the 9-month waitlist control group. Teachers and parents also received six EBSST training sessions in separate groups at school. Significant improvements in parent and teacher ratings of emotional competence were found at posttreatment among children in the EBSST group relative to controls; however, the results were not significant after the Bonferroni adjustment. Small to medium effect sizes were found. No difference in untrained social skills or mental health was observed. This study provides preliminary support for the utility of EBSST in teaching emotional competence skills for children with ASD + MID in schools and provides valuable pilot data for future research

The association between social skills and mental health in school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder, with and without intellectual disability

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with social skills deficits and co-occurring mental health difficulties. ASD frequently co-occurs with Intellectual Disability (ID). There is scant literature exploring the association between social skills and mental health in children with ASD, with or without ID. Participants were 292 children aged six to 13 with ASD (217 without ID; 76 with Mild ID). Parents and teachers rated social skills and mental health using standardised questionnaires. Greater mental health difficulties were associated with greater social responsiveness difficulties and poorer social skills across the sample. Effect sizes were large. Social skills explained a significant proportion of the variance in mental health scores across the sample. The study has important implications for treatment and future research

Teaching social–emotional skills to school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder : a treatment versus control trial in 41 mainstream schools

This study examined the effectiveness of ‘Emotion-Based Social Skills Training (EBSST)’ a manualised social–emotional intervention designed to improve emotional competence in school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Participants were 217 children (aged 7–13 years) with ASD without Intellectual Disability attending 41 mainstream primary schools in NSW Australia. Data on emotional competence, social skills and mental health difficulties were collected using teacher and parent informant report questionnaires in a pre-test/post-test control group design. One hundred and six students took part in the treatment and 111 students were in the control group. School Counsellors delivered the 16 session treatment to groups of 3–8 students in their schools. Teachers and parents also received six sessions of EBSST in separate groups. Participants received a booster session at six months follow-up. EBSST improved teacher reported emotional competence as measured by the Emotions Development Questionnaire (EDQ). The effect size was large and improvements were sustained at 6 months follow-up. Parent reported emotional competence and more general measures of social skills and mental health were insensitive to change across informants. This study has important implications for students, teachers and parents and provides a valuable basis for further research and development of EBSST and the EDQ

Self-reported emotion regulation in children with autism spectrum disorder, without intellectual disability

Background: Emotion regulation (ER) may be a critical underlying factor contributing to mental health disorders in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Scant literature has utilised self-reported ER in children with ASD and explored the association between mental health and social skills. This study explored the association between self-reported ER skills, and parent/teacher proxy reports of ER, social skills, autism severity and mental health. Method: The pre-existing data set included a community sample of 217 students aged seven to 13-years (Mage = 9.51, SD = 1.26; 195 Male, 22 Female) with ASD. The study employed a correlational design, whereby existing variables were explored as they occurred naturally (Hills, 2011). Children self-rated ER, while parents and teachers rated ER, social skills, and mental health difficulties via standardised questionnaires. Results: Multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for parent and teacher reports. The linear combination of parent-reported emotion regulation, social skills, autism severity, and child-reported ER accounted for 46.5 % of the variance, compared to 58.7 % for the teacher-report analysis. Social skills appeared to be a stronger predictor of mental difficulties than emotional regulation irrespective of source. Conclusions: The current study suggests self-reported ER to be a significant contributor to mental health when in isolation. However, in the context of social skills and autism severity, ER is no longer a significant contributor in a child and adolescent community sample, in determining mental health. This suggests, that for children aged seven to 13-years with ASD, without ID, to reduce mental health difficulties, social skills may be the focus of intervention, with some focus on ER ability

Developmental neuropsychiatry: A new model of psychiatry for young people with and without intellectual disability

Deinstitutionalization of young people with intellectual disability means that they are now cared for by families and served by community-based professionals. Normalization, which has been the guiding philosophy for this re-integration, has challenged child psychiatry to accept its responsibility for the mental health of this special needs group. It is argued that this group, with its special mental health needs, has had an influence on the conceptual framework of child psychiatry, particularly our understanding of development. This article examines the influence of the psychiatry of intellectual disability on child psychiatry and the influence of child psychiatry on the understanding of the mental health needs of those with intellectual disability. In particular, the management of young people with intellectual disability has required child psychiatry to expand its understanding of a biopsychosocial approach. Some of the resulting changes and challenges are presented to illustrate the benefits for both child psychiatry and the psychiatry of intellectual disability. The interaction of different conceptual biases has led to a new and broader conceptual spectrum of developmental neuropsychiatry. Developmental neuropsychiatry recognizes the need to integrate social science and preventative strategies at one end of the spectrum, with the genetics, molecular biology of human behaviour and targeted pharmacology at the other, and consider the developmental and interactive nature of such models. This article argues that this emerging, dynamic and broader conceptual framework of developmental neuropsychiatry enhances our understanding of the child mental health of all children. The article looks at some of the implications for assessment, diagnosis and treatment. As mental health needs become a greater public health priority, the advances in basic sciences will reinvigorate this medical specialty and training programmes will need to reflect these. Copyrigh