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Changes in Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents with ASD Completing the PEERS® Social Skills Intervention

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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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge grant support from the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin (ASSEW), Marquette University, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Numbers UL1TR001436 and KL2TR001438. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. The authors would like to thank the families for their participation in our research, as well as acknowledge the Marquette Autism Project undergraduate research team for their diligent work on this project. A portion of this project will be presented as a poster presentation at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Annual Convention in San Diego, November 2017 under the title “The effect of a social skills intervention on depressive symptoms among adolescents with ASD.” Finally, the authors wish to extend their gratitude to Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, Psy.D., UCLA for her assistance in offering the PEERS® interventions in Wisconsin.

Funding

This project was funded by the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin, Marquette University, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Numbers UL1TR001436 and KL2TR001438. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marquette University, 604 N 16th St. Cramer Hall, Milwaukee, WI, 53233, USA

    Hillary K. Schiltz, Alana J. McVey, Bridget K. Dolan, Kirsten S. Willar, Sheryl Pleiss, Jeffrey S. Karst, Audrey M. Carson, Christina Caiozzo, Elisabeth M. Vogt & Amy Vaughan Van Hecke

  2. Great Lakes Neurobehavioral Center, 7373 France Avenue South, Suite 302, Edina, MN, 55435, USA

    Sheryl Pleiss

  3. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA

    Jeffrey S. Karst

  4. Texas Children’s Hospital, 6621 Fannin St, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Audrey M. Carson

  5. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 2441 E. Hartford Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 53211, USA

    Brianna D. Yund

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  1. Hillary K. Schiltz
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  2. Alana J. McVey
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  7. Audrey M. Carson
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  8. Christina Caiozzo
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  11. Amy Vaughan Van Hecke
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Contributions

HS conceived of the study, participated in delivery of the intervention, conducted the statistical analyses and interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript; AM assisted with interpretation of the data and revised the manuscript; BD, KW, SP, JK, and AC participated in the delivery of the intervention and data acquisition; CC, EV, and BY participated in the delivery of the intervention; AVVH assisted in the conception, design, and coordination of the study, reviewed the statistical analyses and interpretation of the data, and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hillary K. Schiltz.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Schiltz, H.K., McVey, A.J., Dolan, B.K. et al. Changes in Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents with ASD Completing the PEERS® Social Skills Intervention. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 834–843 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3396-6

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