Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye Title: Social Skills Training for Children with Learning Disabilities Lead Reviwer: Lucy Funderburk Co-Reviewers: Jamie Schwartz Chad Nye Contact Reviewer: Chad Nye UCF CARD 12001 Science Dr Suite 145 Orlando, FL 32826 1 Social Skills Training in LD 1 Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz According to the 2006 Annual Report by the National Center for Learning Disabilities 2 (NCLD), there are over 15 million children, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities in 3 the United States (US) alone. Over the past 35 years, the term learning disability (LD) has been 4 used to identify and subsequently inform instruction for children struggling in the classroom. The 5 characteristics typically defining children with LD include recognition of a neurological 6 processing disorder impacting oral or written language as exhibited in tasks involving speaking, 7 listening, reading, writing, spelling, or mathematic calculations. (IDEA, 34 Code of Federal 8 Regulations §300.8 (c)(10); NJCLD, 1997, ). The term learning disability does not include 9 individuals with sensory impairment (e.g., deaf, blind), mental retardation, emotional disturbance, 10 or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage; although individuals with these 11 handicapping conditions frequently have difficulty learning [IDEA, 34 Code of Federal 12 Regulations §300.8 (c)(10); NJCLD, 1997]. Unfortunately, the definition of LD is not universal 13 and does not necessarily cross international boundaries. In other countries (e.g., United Kingdom, 14 Belgium), the term learning disability refers to individuals with mental retardation. In these 15 countries terms such as ‘dyslexia,’ ‘dyscalculia,’ and ‘dysgraphia’ are used to identify those 16 children who have specific difficulties learning and may not necessarily be identified as LD based 17 on the US definition. 18 Although the definition of learning disability centers on the difficulties in academic 19 achievement, difficulties in self-regulation, social perception, and social interaction also may exist 20 in children with LD. Social skill deficits in children with LD have the potential to affect 21 adversely not only their social interactions but academic achievement as well. Researchers 22 (Kavale & Forness, 1996; Kavale & Mostert, 2004; Swanson & Malone, 1992) have 2 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 demonstrated the importance of social competence on the overall development and well-being of 2 children with learning disabilities. 3 Implications of Social Skills Deficits 4 Social skills can refer to a wide range of behaviors and abilities, which can be categorized 5 as behaviors associated with social interactions (Kavale & Forness, 1996), and social competence 6 (McFall, 1982). These dimensions of social interactions and competence can include friendliness, 7 helpfulness, self-control, the ability to cooperate, and the ability to share (LaGreca, 1987). The 8 positive attributes of these social behaviors result in successful social interactions for the child 9 while the negative attributes are viewed as deficits that can lead to problems such as aggression, 10 impulsiveness, acting out, and an overall inability to get along with peers in social situations 11 (LaGreca, 1987). 12 Social interaction and competence deficits prove to be a defining characteristic of most 13 individuals with LD, especially in children and adolescents. Kavale and Forness (1995) 14 suggested that social skills deficits are a prominent feature in 75% of children with LD. The 15 implication of such a high rate of social deficit is that children and adolescents with LD are faced 16 with compound deficits that impact both the quality of life and academic performance in school. 17 Few would argue that development of social skills does not play an important role in how all 18 children adapt to both societal and academic pressures, thus the presence of social skill and 19 competence difficulties can only exacerbate the lack of school success for children with LD. 20 Social skill and competency deficits are readily identified at the pre- and early adolescence 21 age. Social skill deficits have been shown to increase chances of involvement with juvenile 22 authorities, legal problems, or both (Parker & Asher, 1987; Bender & Wall, 1994; Winters, 1997). 3 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 In addition, Seidel and Vaughn (1991), Bear, Kortering and Braziel (2006), and Reschly and 2 Christenson (2006) have all found that youth with LD are at a higher risk of dropping out of 3 school. An understanding of difficulties that these students face (Sabornie, 1994) and the impact 4 that these deficits have on factors such as peer status and acceptance (Bruininks, 1978; Dudley- 5 Marling & Edmiaston, 1985; Wiener, 1987), the student-teacher relationship (Brophy, 1979; 6 Garrett & Crump, 1980; Siperstein & Goding, 1985; Northcutt,1986; Seidel & Vaughn, 1991), 7 self-concept and perceptions of others (Gresham & Reschly, 1986, Bryan, 1991), and adjustment 8 later on in life (Parker & Asher, 1987; Gerber et al, 1990; Kavale & Forness, 1996; Winters, 9 1997; Moisan, 1998) may be important to academic success. Thus, attention to interventions that 10 will remediate these deficits may be an important component of an individual’s educational 11 program. 12 Social Skills Training (SST) 13 SST has been approached from several different cognitive and behavioral intervention 14 models such as direct instruction, coaching, modeling, rehearsal, shaping, prompting, and 15 reinforcement. Though these models have distinctly unique dimensions they all share the same 16 core goal of developing more normalized social behaviors in children and adolescents with 17 learning disabilities. The interventions for the various social skills and competencies target 18 behaviors such as learning how to listen, ask questions, and ask for assistance; anger control; 19 disappointment management; or, demonstrating appropriate emotions and expression of feelings. 20 Evidence regarding SST can be drawn from at least three different types of research information 21 including primary studies, narrative reviews, and meta-analyses. 22 Findings from Primary Studies 4 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 SST has been advocated by many in the research community as an effective means to treat 2 social skills deficits in children and adolescents with LD. For instance, Amerikaner & Summerlin 3 (1982) found that group counseling and relaxation techniques were effective in promoting social 4 self-esteem and reducing the probability of acting out and distracting others. Likewise, Omizo & 5 Omizo (1988) incorporated similar techniques into a treatment program and found that the 6 individuals who participated scored significantly higher on the Piers-Harris Children’s Self- 7 Concept Scale (Piers, 1969). Trapani and Gettinger (1989) studied the effects of SST and tutoring 8 on school-aged boys with LD and found that a combination of a direct instruction method for SST 9 and cross-aged tutoring had a positive effect on both the child’s overall communication ability 10 11 and academic test scores. SST interventions that focus on role-playing, modeling, and feedback have also reported 12 mixed or inconclusive findings. Berler, Gross, and & Drabman (1982) found that a five-week 13 intervention implemented in group sessions was effective in improving appropriate verbalizations 14 and speech duration. However, there was no noted improvement in observed sociometric ratings 15 by peers. Hart (1996), who applied a cross-age tutoring and social skills training program similar 16 to Trapani but applied to school-aged girls with LD, reported inconclusive results suggesting that 17 any social intervention must take into account gender differences. 18 Not all research has produced positive intervention effects. Some studies have reported an 19 absence of compelling results to support SST (Berler, Gross, & Drabman, 1982; Straub & 20 Roberts, 1983; Wanat, 1983; Blackbourn, 1989; Fox, 1989; Utay & Lampe, 1995; Wiener & 21 Harris, 1997; Conway, 2001). Other studies have reported little to no improvement in outcomes 22 measured, including sociometric scores, teacher ratings, self-perception, starting and maintaining 5 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 conversations, and responding to failure (LaGreca & Mesibov, 1981; Byham, 1983; Merz, 1985). 2 Discrepancies across these studies can be attributed to sampling, measurement, and 3 methodological differences; but it is clear that there is a substantial body of research on the topic 4 that warrants attention in order to summarize and synthesize the available research regarding the 5 efficacy of SST in children and adolescents with LD. 6 Findings from Narrative Reviews 7 The need for SST for children and adolescents with LD has been a focus of the 8 research community for over 30 years (La Greca & Mesibov, 1979; Schumaker & Hazel, 1984; 9 Vaughn, 1985) . The awareness of this need has prompted several seminal narrative reviews on 10 the topic. In 1980, Zigmond and Brownlee pointed out the need for children with LD to have 11 training in social skills. They argued that adolescents with LD need some form of SST and that 12 instruction in social skills is as important to the education process as instruction in academic and 13 vocational skills. The focus of this summary addressed a series of recommendations as to on 14 what an SST program should entail, including aspects of social perception and social behavior; 15 how to implement adequately a program through careful assessment and instruction of targeted 16 skills; and what kind of student would benefit from SST such as individuals with inappropriate, 17 passive, or aggressive behaviors. 18 Other researchers have provided similar narrative reviews that have highlighted the need 19 for SST in children and adolescents with LD due to low social acceptance ratings among their 20 peers. LaGreca (1987) summarized the social skills research in terms of four primary categories 21 of issues related to social skill research for children with LD. The first issues was that of 22 ‘heterogeneity’ of the definition of LD which is reflected in the presence of children in the 6 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 research that present with learning deficits who do not meet the formal definition of a learning 2 disabled child (e.g., attention deficit disorder, hyperactive). 3 even among the identified LD population, the heterogeneity of cognitive, behavioral, and social 4 skills is remarkable. For example, in some studies, the participatning LD children were drawn 5 from children identified as ADDH making the interpretation of the appropriateness of any 6 intervention difficult to extrapolate for those identified specifically as LD. 7 Further, LaGreca points out that A second area of concern regarding social skill training for LD children centers on ‘social 8 status’. LaGreca (1987) concluded that several studies reported that most children with LD are 9 perceived as socially unappealing and that they are generally rejected by their peers. Several 10 sociometric issues emerged that would warrant a more indepth investigation of social skill 11 intervention for LD children. For example, several studies reported that girls were at a 12 disadvantage in social acceptance in spite of the fact that the prevalence of LD is considerably 13 higher in males. Other studies reported not all identified LD children have social skill problems 14 and concluded that non-academic characteristics may be critical to school success. 15 The third area of interest for LaGreca (1987) was ‘social cognitive skills’ in which a case 16 is made for confusion in understanding the research in the area of social skills. LaGreca points 17 out that LD children have difficultly in the areas of social perception, social motication, and 18 social knowledge and that the research in these areas is inconsistent in terms of the nature of the 19 deficits as well as the efficacy of remediation. The conclusions drawn from this summary 20 suggested that while social processing may social processing poses potential difficulties for LD 21 children, the evidence for the impact of remediation is questionable. 7 Social Skills Training in LD 1 Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz Lastly, LaGreca (1987) suggested that the area of ‘social skill training’ is noticeably 2 absent a rich research literature. She points out that while a few studies suggest that intervention 3 studies suggest a measure of improvement, the generalization of the trained skills and the impact 4 on social status are unknown. 5 In a more recent summary, Olmeda & Trent (2003) explored the need for including 6 minority individuals with LD in research investigating SST. The authors stressed that the social 7 behaviors resulting from sociocultural contexts need to be taken into consideration when 8 assessing an individual’s social skills abilities. Olmeda and Trent argued that there is a need for 9 incorporation of perspectives reflecting multicultural aspects when designing and implementing 10 SST interventions. 11 These summaries indicated that cognitive, behavioral, and social interaction contribute to 12 the low social acceptance of children and adolescents with LD. The primary shortcoming of the 13 all of these reviews was the absence of a critical assessment of the existing research that would 14 provide guidance in the implementation of a social skill intervention program for learning 15 disabled children. That is, they did provide a narrative description of the conclusions that might 16 have been gleaned from the primary research, but little attention was paid to either the critical 17 analysis of the reported research or the efficacy of that research base. 18 The conclusions drawn from these narrative reviews offer a consistent picture of the 19 nature, need, and importance of SST for individuals with LD. However, they provide little insight 20 into the practices or social skills interventions that might be effective in providing LD children 21 with an improved social skill set. A quantitative summary of SST programs would provide an 8 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 independent and objective assessment of the magnitude of effect for SST programs. Several such 2 meta analyses have been reported and are summarized next. 3 Findings from Meta-analyses 4 Kavale and colleagues (Forness and Kavale (1996); Kavale and Forness, 1996; Kavale & 5 Forness, 1995; Kavale and Mostert, 2004) reported results from one (reported in four different 6 publications) meta-analysis assessing the effectiveness of SST training for children and 7 adolescents with LD. The meta-analysis included 53 empirical studies of varying research design 8 representing 2113 participants, 74% of whom were male, with a mean age of 11.5 years and a 9 mean IQ of 96. The included studies spanned the years 1976 to 1991. The focus of the review 10 was SST programs for children and adolescents with LD that targeted specific behaviors 11 associated with social interactions and competence. Summaries of SST effect were presented for 12 peer, self, and teacher report. Results suggested that overall, SST programs produced minimal 13 results, with about two-tenths of a standard deviation improvement reported by peer and self 14 report studies and teachers reporting an SST effect size of about .16. In order for a social skills 15 training program to be more effective, Kavale and colleagues have suggested that research on 16 STT programs should provide more attention to a higher level of research rigor in the areas of (1) 17 design quality, (2) fidelity of program implementation, (3) outcome measurement, and (4) 18 implementation of reliable and valid SST programs. 19 The Need for a Systematic Review 20 Several primary and summary studies have been reported regarding the nature of the 21 social skills and competencies of children and adolescents with LD and the effects of programs 22 designed to improve those skills and competencies. However, only Kavale and colleagues 9 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 (Forness and Kavale (1996); Kavale and Forness, 1996; Kavale & Forness, 1995; Kavale and 2 Mostert, 2004) have attempted to summarize statistically the nature and magnitude of the effect of 3 SST for LD children and adolescents. Unfortunately, the authors did not provide a sufficiently 4 transparent and systematic approach to their study in order to replicate the findings. In addition, 5 the review did not include studies reported since 1991. Further, their analyses did not provide an 6 assessment of the differential effects of SST based on the quality of research design related 7 characteristics (e.g., design type, allocation procedure, and fidelity of implementation). Thus, the 8 purpose of this review will be to conduct a comprehensive up-to-date systematic review of SST 9 programs to provide an assessment of the magnitude of SST effects based on a more extensive, 10 transparent, and explicit presentation of the information retrieval, data extraction, analysis, and 11 synthesis processes. 12 OBJECTIVE 13 The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of school based social skills 14 training programs on learning disabled school-aged children (grades K - 12) as measured by 15 observational, criterion, or formal measures of social skill outcomes. 16 17 Operational Definitions of learning disability and social skills training 18 Learning Disability 19 For this review the term ‘ learning disability’ (LD) will be defined as ". . . a disorder in 20 one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, 21 spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, 22 write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, 10 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia." Learning 2 disabilities do not include, "…learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or 3 motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, 4 or economic disadvantage." [IDEA, 34 Code of Federal Regulations §300.8(c)(10)]. It is 5 recognized that this definition is not universal and indeed most countries do not use the term LD 6 to identify individuals who have difficulty learning. In other countries individuals that may be 7 identified LD in the US may be identified as having learning difficulties (e.g., United Kingdom, 8 Australia, Zimbabwe) or instrumental disabilities (Belgium). In addition, many countries do not 9 provide services in the schools for these individuals. According to the Organization for Economic 10 Co-operation and Development (OECD), for the 22 countries most likely to provide services to 11 children with special needs only 54% provide LD services (OECD, 2004). The following are 12 common qualities of individuals with LD regardless of the terminology used to describe them: 13 --reading, mathematics, and/or written language achievement substantially below that of peers 14 despite normal intelligence, 15 --visual and/or auditory perceptual problems, 16 --adequate academic instruction, 17 --LD first identified in elementary grades, 18 --may demonstrate social or emotional difficulties, 19 --generally life long 20 21 22 Social skills training are those cognitive or behavioral interventions used to develop more 23 normalized social behaviors in children and adolescents with learning disabilities. The Social Skill Training 11 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 intervention may include any of the following strategies: direct instruction, coaching, modeling, 2 rehearsal, shaping, prompting, and/or reinforcement. 3 METHOD 4 Inclusion Criteria and Procedure 5 Inclusion of studies will be achieved through a process of screening for (a) titles and 6 abstracts and (b) full texts. At the first stage of screening (title/abstract), citations will be 7 reviewed for the following inclusion criteria: 8 9 1. social skills training intervention targeted towards participants identified as learning disabled; AND 10 2. participants in grades K – 12 (or international equivalent) AND 11 3. two group comparison designs. 12 13 Information Retrieval Database thesauri will be consulted, if available, to ensure that appropriate terms and 14 synonyms have been included in the participant, intervention and outcome search term categories. 15 Search terms and retrieval techniques will be modified to meet the requirements of each 16 individual database. No restriction will be used for publication source, language, or date. 17 Electronic Databases 18 At a minimum, the following electronic databases/sources will be searched: 19 1. PSYCINFO 20 2. ERIC 21 3. DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS 22 4. MEDLINE 12 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 5. GOOGLE SEARCH 2 6. SAGE FULL TEXT EDUCATION 3 7. BRITISH EDUCATION INDEX 4 8. AUSTRIALIAN EDUCATION INDEX 5 9. FRANCIS 6 10. CBCA EDUCATION 7 11. EDUCATION ABSTRACTS 8 12. ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER 9 All databases, including grey literature, will be submitted to the same information retrieval 10 criteria described below. Reference lists from a variety of sources such as reviews, retrieved 11 studies, anthologies, and conference papers, will be searched for potential inclusion 12 characteristics. The following information will be reported for the electronic search: 13 a. Databases searched 14 b. Time frame searched 15 c. Search terms used 16 d. Number of citations retrieved 17 Grey literature search will be limited to the databases cited above. No attempt will be 18 made to search non-professional databases such as Google, AltaVisa, or Web Crawler in order to 19 focus time and resources on the professional database sources. 20 Search Strategy 21 22 All electronic searches will be comprehensive without restriction to date, language, or source. Additional grey literature citations will be sought through contact with experts and 13 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 organizations (e.g., CED) representing individuals with learning disabilities in the US and 2 abroad(e.g., LDUK). Because the primary print sources for research in learning disabilities are 3 cataloged in the major databases (e.g., ERIC, PsycInfo) a comprehensive and extensive hand- 4 search on individual journals would not be an appropriate use of resources. However, if five (5) 5 or more included studies are retrieved from any single journal publication source, a hand-search 6 of that journal will be conducted. 7 8 9 10 11 12 For each database, we will use the following terms to locate relevant studies for this review: a. Domain Terms: learning disabil*, social skill*, b. Intervention Terms: interven*, Treat*, Therap*, training method*, program evaluation, behavior-modification, counseling c. Target Population Terms: , elementary*, secondary or high school, Sschool-age, 13 adolescen* 14 Title and Abstract Screening Procedure 15 All citations at the title/abstract and full-text retrieval stages will be assessed for inclusion 16 criteria by two authors independently. In the event of a disagreement between the two reviewers 17 regarding inclusion of a study at the title/abstract stage, the full text of the article will be retrieved 18 and read by both reviewers for a decision. Should the reviewers still disagree, the full-text article 19 will be reviewed by a third author and a final decision made whether to accept the study for 20 inclusion. Reviewers will not be blinded at any level of the review to the name(s) of the author(s), 21 institution(s), or publication source. 22 Full-Text Screening Procedure 14 Social Skills Training in LD 1 Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye All citations at the full-text retrieval stage will be assessed for inclusion criteria by two 2 authors independently. In the event of a disagreement between the two reviewers regarding 3 inclusion of a study at the full text retrieval stage, the full-text article will be reviewed by a third 4 author and a final decision made whether to accept the study for inclusion. Reviewers will not be 5 blinded at any level of the review to the name(s) of the author(s), institution(s), or publication 6 source. 7 Coding Procedure and Categories for Included Studies 8 Coding of included studies will be conducted independently by two authors. Any 9 discrepancies in coding of an article will be resolved through discussion between the two authors. 10 If the reviewers cannot come to a consensus regarding a particular study, a third author will be 11 consulted for final judgment. Interrater reliability will be reported in the final review. All coding 12 will address design, participant, intervention, and outcome characteristics. 13 Coding for Included Non-English Studies 14 Studies meeting the inclusion criteria but published in a language other than English will 15 be coded using the same form as the English language publications. The coding will be 16 conducted by an individual proficient in the written form of the non-English language and guided 17 by one of the trained coders of the included English language studies. While we recognize that 18 there is not a reliability of coding in the non-English language, a limitation on resources and 19 access to multi-lingual coders make this a reasonable approach to obtaining a coding for non- 20 English studies. 21 22 Research Design Characteristics All included studies will be either randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental 15 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 designed studies in which the control and/or comparison group is either matched or statistically 2 controlled for at the pre-treatment level. Studies assigning participants at the group level (class, 3 school, or district) or individually will be included for review and analysis. No study will be 4 included that utilizes a pre-experimental group design (pre- post treatment only), single subject 5 design, or qualitative approaches to data collection or analysis. 6 Participant Characteristics 7 Participants of the included studies for this review will be Kindergarten through High 8 School (or the international equivalent). Each study will be coded for participant characteristics 9 such as age, gender, SES, grade in school, severity level, and the number of participants in 10 experimental and control or comparison groups. Any study performed outside the United States 11 will be examined for the international equivalents of US grades. Excluded populations include 12 individuals who were not identified as learning disabled or individuals in whom a learning 13 disability was not the primary diagnosis (e.g., deaf, blind, mental retardation, emotional 14 disturbance). 15 Intervention Characteristics 16 Intervention characteristics will include dimensions such as type of intervention 17 (e.g., cross-age tutoring, direct instruction, counseling), length of intervention program (e.g., 18 number of days/weeks of program implementation), length of intervention session (number of 19 minutes, hours per session) , number of sessions, structure of intervention (e.g., group, individual, 20 both). Studies will be excluded from this review if they include only pharmacological 21 interventions. In the event that a study treats participants with both behavioral and 16 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 pharmacological interventions, ONLY the behavioral intervention outcomes will be included 2 AND only if there is an accompanying non-experimental control (comparison) group for 3 comparison. 4 5 Follow-up assessments will be identified for maintanence and generalization where provided and coded for the length of time immediately post intervention. 6 Outcome Characteristics 7 Outcomes for this review will include: 8 a. Behavioral (e.g., anger, aggression) 9 b. Cognitive (e.g., social problem solving, self image) 10 c. Social (e.g., peer interactions, cooperation) 11 Measurement of the outcome characteristics can include observational report, criterion referenced 12 assessments, rating scales, or standardized tests 13 Assessment of Methodological Quality 14 The quality of the methodological rigor of a study may have an important impact on the 15 magnitude of the treatment effect size. Individual study methodological quality will be coded and 16 assessed for characteristics such as design type, unit of assignment/analysis, attrition, and fidelity 17 of treatment implementation. The results of this assessment will be analyzed for their impact on 18 the treatment effects. The analysis of this study’s methodological quality will be used as 19 moderating variables in the data synthesis and interpretation. 20 17 Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz Calculating Effect Size Since outcome data may be reported in a variety of formats within individual studies, 3 Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA; Borenstein 2001) will be used to calculate the treatment 4 effect sizes. This software has the ability to accept data in more than 100 different formats in 5 order to transform it to a common effect size and variance. This information is then used in the 6 meta-analysis. 7 8 9 The following are the primary metrics anticipated for the calculation of the effect size: Standardized Mean Difference Statistic (d-index) For studies reporting outcomes on a continuous scale, the post-treatment mean of the control 10 group will be subtracted from the post-treatment mean of the experimental group and the 11 difference will be divided by the pooled standard deviation of both groups. 12 For studies reporting statistics such as t, F, or p value statistics only, conversion formulae 13 will be used to calculate the d-index for the effect size estimate. All study calculations will be 14 weighted by the inverse mean variance to allow larger n studies to contribute proportionately in 15 any effect size synthesis. All effect sizes will be calculated using a 95% confidence interval. 16 Effect Size Adjustments 17 Adjustments to the calculated effect sizes will be made for both sample size and 18 assignment/analysis mismatch. In order to maximize the interpretation of the calculated effect 19 size, we will calculate all effect sizes using Hedge’s g. Hedge’s g is a standardized mean 20 difference with a small sample size bias correction factor. 21 Missing Data 22 For any included study presenting missing or inadequate data for analysis, the senior author 18 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye 1 will be contacted in an effort to obtain the needed data. Should that data not be available, the 2 study will be excluded from analysis. 3 Synthesis of Effect Sizes 4 When estimating the overall effect size of an intervention, the study is represented by the 5 mean value of all outcomes in the study. For those studies presenting multiple outcomes, we will 6 employ a shifting unit of analysis approach. However, when examining potential moderators of 7 the overall outcomes, a study’s results will be aggregated only within the separated categories of 8 the moderator variable(s). For example, if a study on the effect of social skill training on social 9 behavior measured two outcomes, acting-out and distractibility, those two effects would be 10 averaged for purposes of estimating the intervention’s effect on social behavior. However, when 11 examining the type of outcome measure as a moderator variable, the study would contribute an 12 effect size to the “acting-out” variable category, and an effect size to the “distractibility” variable 13 category. 14 Heterogeneity Analysis 15 The heterogeneity analysis allows for an assessment of the amount of variation in the 16 calculated effect beyond what is expected due to sampling error. Two basic models of analysis 17 are available: fixed effects and random effects. Since the results derived from a random effects 18 model will allow us to apply inferences of effect to a population of studies involving individuals 19 who have been engaged in a social skill-training program we will use only a random effects 20 model for our data analysis. 21 Sensitivity Analysis 22 A sensitivity analysis allows for the assessment of potential bias that may be part of the 19 Social Skills Training in LD Funderburk, Nye, Schwartz 1 calculated effect size. This bias may be present in a variety of characteristics including attrition, 2 type of treatment, missing data, sample size, and study design. At a minimum and, where 3 appropriate, we will assess potential bias for extreme study effect size, bias using the one study 4 removed analysis and funnel plots depictions. 5 Post Hoc Subgroup and Moderator Analyses 6 It may be important to analyze the impact of specific subsets or study moderators such as 7 design, participant, or treatment characteristics. We will examine a limited number of these 8 subgroup comparisons or study moderator variables. These analyses may include: 9 1. Types of Treatment 10 2. Severity Level 11 3. Attrition 12 4. Intention to Treat vs. Active Treatment only 13 5. Age of Participant 14 6. Length of Treatment 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 REVIEW MAINTENANCE Maintenance of the review will be the responsibility of the lead author Lucy Funderburk. TIME FRAME FOR REVIEW COMPLETION: October 2009 AUTHOR INFORMATION Lucy Funderburk [email protected] Jamie Schwartz [email protected] Chad Nye [email protected] Sources of Support Nordic Campbell Center, Copenhagen, Denmark 20 Social Skills Training in LD 1 2 Funderburk, Schwartz, Nye References Amerikaner, M. & Summerlin, M.L. (1983). Group counseling with learning disabled children: 3 Effects of social skills and relaxation training on self-concept and classroom behavior. 4 Journal of Learning Disabilities, 15(6), 340-343. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Bear, G.G., Kortering, L.J., & Braziel, P. (2006). School completers and noncompleters with learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 27(5), 293-300. Bender, W.N. & Wall, M.E. (1994). Social-emotional development of students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 17(4), 323-341. Berler, E.S., Gross, A.M., & Drabman, R.S. (1982). Social skills training with children: Proceed with caution. 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