The effects of social skills instruction on the social behaviors of students at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders

The authors examined the effects of pullout small-group and teacher-directed classroom-based social skills instruction on the social behaviors of five third- and fourth-grade students at risk for emotional or behavioral disorders. A multiple-baseline across-subjects design was conducted to determine whether the combination of small-group and classroom-based social skills instruction would reduce the frequency of antisocial behaviors across two settings (i.e., classroom, lunchroom). Results of the study indicated moderate reductions in antisocial behaviors during small-group social skills instruction. The positive changes either further declined or were maintained after classroom social skills instruction commenced. Training variables are discussed.