Evaluation of an Emotion-based Social Skills Training for Children with Develpmental Disorders

Investigators

Dr Sandra Heriot (MH-Kids, c/-John Hunter Hospital, ph: 02 49855830)

Ms Michelle Wong (Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Westmead ph: 02 98452005)

Ms Sandy Vickerstaff (School of Psychology, University of Sydney, ph: 02 98452005 (CHW contact))

Dr David Dossetor (Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, ph: 02 98452005)

Dr Pauline Howie (School of Psychology, University of Sydney, ph: 02 93512001)

We would like you and your child to consider participating in a research study that will be conducted in the Department of Psychological Medicine at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in conjunction with the School of Psychology, University of Sydney and MH-Kids. Part of this study is being conducted to meet the requirements for the degree Master of Science for Ms Vickerstaff under the supervision of Drs Heriot and Howie.

What is the study about?

We hope to learn more about any emotional difficulties that are experienced by children with developmental disorders (DD) such as Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), high functioning autism (HFA) and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), and the risk factors associated with these problems. We also hope to learn how effective an emotion-based social skills training program is for children with these disorders. Treatment will be run in groups by a Registered and a Conditionally Registered Psychologist.

Who can participate in the study?

This study is for children aged between 8-14 years who have AS, HFA or PDD whose intellectual functioning is at least within the low average range, their parents and teachers.

What will the study involve?

If you and your child agree to participate, your child will be asked to complete some questionnaires and do some tests of cognitive (thinking and language) skills. These questionnaires are about social and emotional development. The questionnaires and tests will take about 4 hours to complete. Your child’s intellectual functioning will be assessed first and will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete. If results of the assessment indicate that your child has a full scale IQ lower than in the low average range then a full assessment will not be conducted. You will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires about your child’s social and emotional development, which will take about 1 hour. Your child’s teacher will also be asked to complete some of these same questionnaires.

After the assessment, your child will be randomly allocated to either the treatment group with other children of around the same age or to a wait-list control group. There is an equal chance of being assigned to either of these groups. What is involved in each group is described below:

Emotion-based social skills training (EBSST)

Your child will be required to attend The Children’s Hospital at Westmead or the Clinical Psychology Unit, University of Sydney for EBSST. EBSST consists of 3 Modules. Module 1 runs for 6 consecutive weeks and Modules 2 and 3 run for 5 consecutive weeks. Each week your child will receive a 2-hour session of group training. Between modules your child will have a 5-week break from the group, allowing time to practice skills.

Your child and the other children in the group will be videotaped in some sessions while they role play some of the skills they have been taught. We will not keep these tapes once we have finished using them in the session.

You will also be involved in sessions with the Psychologists so that you can learn more about your child’s social and emotional skills so that your child can use these skills in other settings.

Following treatment, and then again in 6 months’ time, you, your child and your child’s teacher will be asked to complete follow-up assessments. This will involve completing the same questionnaires as completed prior to treatment and will take approximately 1 hour.

Six months following treatment a booster session will be available for you and your child to attend to review the skills taught.

Wait-list group

Your child will be placed on a waiting list for 6 months.

After these 6 months you and your child will be asked to fill in some of the same questionnaires as those completed at the initial assessment.

You and your child will be given the opportunity to participate in the social skills training program described above.

Are there any benefits for my child participating in the study?

We cannot guarantee that your child will benefit directly from this study, although we hope that what we learn about emotions and the treatment may be helpful for preventing emotional problems and developing better social skills in children with DD.

Are there any side-effects and risks associated with this study?

We do not expect there to be any risks associated with participating in this research study. There is a possible risk that your child might find it difficult to interact with other children in the group, however we think that it is very unlikely that this difficulty will exceed that experienced on a day-to-day basis at school. The group leaders of the social skills groups have experience working with children and are trained to deal with distress.

Other information

All information collected during the study is confidential, except as required by law. The information will not be stored with your child’s name, but will be coded and stored against a number. Only the chief and associate investigators for this project will have access to this information. If the results of the study are published or used in reports of the study or for presentation, only group data will be presented and individual participant identities will remain confidential.

All the information collected during the study (questionnaires, test forms and results) will be kept securely in a locked filing cabinet in the Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s Hospital at Westmead or at the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. Only the research team will have access to the information. At the end of the study period, all the data will be kept securely at the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. Data files will be kept for a period of 15 years after which the paper documents will be destroyed by shredding and all electronic data will be confidentially erased.

Participation in this project is voluntary and if you decide not to take part or decide to withdraw at any time this will not otherwise affect you or your child’s care with the Department of Psychological Medicine or at the hospital or any involvement with the University of Sydney.

There will be no cost to participants for taking part in the study but you will be required to cover costs for travel to attend assessment and treatment.

If you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of this study please do not hesitate to discuss them with the investigators (Dr Sandra Heriot 02 4985 5830 or Ms Michelle Wong 02 9845 2005), or with the Senior Ethics Officer, Ethics Administration, University of Sydney on (02) 9351 4811 (Telephone); (02) 9351 6706 (Facsimile) or gbriody@mail.usyd.edu.au (Email) or with Carolyn Casey (02) 9845 1316, Secretary of the Children’s Hospital at Westmead Ethics Committee which has approved this project.