Effects of Computerized Social Skills Instruction for At-Risk Adolescents

This study reports the effects of an interactive multimedia computer program for teaching social skills to youths with social-adjustment problems. Twelve youths (aged 11-17) were referred by the county diversion program or school guidance counselors. Seven were formally classified as having disabilities and had active Individualized Education Programs. A multiple-probe across-behaviors design was used, with each of the baselines demonstrating a youth's role-playing performance of one of three social skills. Three other measures were also collected: (a) time spent; (b) skill-knowledge scores; and (d) satisfaction ratings. Role-play results indicated that the students with and without disabilities successfully learned and performed the steps of the skills, and they generalized their use of the social skills to novel situations. Written test results indicated the students' knowledge of the social skills was significantly higher after the instruction than during pretesting. Importantly, the students endorsed the program, with most ratings at the "extremely satisfied" level.