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Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

COMPASS - Social skills training for teenagers and young adults with an autism spectrum disorder

During adolescence and early adulthood, increased social demands present specific challenges for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Targeted group-based social skills training has proven to be an effective therapeutic intervention for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. COMPASS is a therapy in a group setting in which social skills are learnt step by step. It comprises two components: basic training (COMPASS-B) and follow-up training (COMPASS-F).

Both training programmes comprise approx. 30 weekly sessions over a period of 8 months. Each session consists of theory, exercises and training tasks. The three basic modules include emotion recognition, small talk and non-verbal communication. The three F-modules cover more complex interactions (e.g. friendship, social hypothesis pictures), complex communication (e.g. active listening, argumentation) and theory of mind (e.g. forming social lies, changing perspectives).

In the evaluation of the basic training, we assessed 108 participants in our clinic using parent, teacher and self-reports as well as a computerised test. The improvements were compared with a waiting group (65 participants) before the training. Catamenesis data was collected one year after the intervention.

The continuation training was also evaluated in a separate study. After the basic training, some of the participants stopped using COMPASS, while others continued the COMPASS training with the advanced training (COMPASS-F). These two groups were compared.

Kompass Verlauf
Study design of the COMPASS therapy evaluation. The data (assessments by parents, trainers and therapists using questionnaires, as well as tasks for recognising emotions) were collected at 5 measurement points. Below: Results according to the parents' questionnaires. From left to right: Reduction of symptoms in the Marburg Assessment Scale for Asperger's Syndrome (MBAS) and the Social Reactivity Scale (SRS), increase in social skills according to the Questionnaire for the Assessment of Group Behaviour (FEG) and decrease in psychological problems in general using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL).

Our results showed a significant decrease in visible autistic behaviour, combined with sustained improvements in social skills one year after the training. General psychiatric symptoms also improved after the intervention. Remarkably, participants from external centres showed similar improvements, confirming the effectiveness of the manual. Similar effects were also observed in the COMPASS-F group. The effect was maintained one year after the training. Both participants and carers expressed satisfaction with the training.

Overall, COMPASS-B and COMPASS-F are highly effective as training programmes and strengthen participants in their social environment.

Weiterführende Informationen

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Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Psychiatric University Hospital
University Zurich (UZH)
Switzerland
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