Abstract
Depression is a common concern among people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is often associated with social skills and relationship challenges. The present data, from a randomized controlled trial, examined the effect of PEERS ® on self-reported depressive symptoms via the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) among 49 adolescents with ASD. Findings revealed that many CDI subscale scores declined (p’s < 0.05) and were related to direct social contact on the Quality of Socialization Questionnaire at posttest (p’s < 0.05). Exploratory analyses uncovered that suicidality was less evident following PEERS ® . Findings support the notion that social functioning and depression may be intimately intertwined in ASD; therefore, bolstering social skills in ASD may positively influence other domains of functioning, including mental health.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 834-843 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords
- Adolescence
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Depression
- Social skills intervention
- Suicidality