Citation

Harrell A, Mercer S, DeRosier M. J. Child Fam. Stud. 2009; 18(4): 378-387.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10826-008-9241-y

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

We evaluated the efficacy of a social skills training intervention designed to improve adolescents' social, emotional and behavioral adjustment, Social Skills Group Intervention-Adolescent (S.S.GRIN-A). Seventy-four adolescents (ages 13-16 years) and their parents were randomly assigned to either the treatment group ( N = 40) or a wait-list control group ( N = 34). Adolescents in the treatment and control groups were compared on global self-concept, social self-efficacy, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems pre- and post-intervention. Youth in the treatment group demonstrated enhanced global self-concept, increased social self-efficacy, and decreased internalizing problems as compared to youth in the control group. No differences in externalizing behavior were found. We discuss the effectiveness of S.S.GRIN-A as a general program designed for addressing a range of adjustment issues and social skill deficits in adolescents.