Children who have problems in interacting appropriately with others typically have significant social skills deficits. Social skills training has become a primary intervention to improve the appropriate peer relationship or peer acceptance. Many socia...
Children who have problems in interacting appropriately with others typically have significant social skills deficits. Social skills training has become a primary intervention to improve the appropriate peer relationship or peer acceptance. Many social skills training programs have been designed and implemented on socially isolated children, however the findings from many studies investigating the effect of social skills interventions are various. The first purpose of this study was to verify the effectiveness of interventions by using quantitative method of meta-analysis. Second, it was to review a various research in detail. Third, it was to provide the basis of planning a social skills training program. For these purposes, findings from 26 studies investigating the effects of social skills interventions for 624 socially isolated children (5-12 years) were analyzed. The result of this study were the following : The pooled overall mean effect size(ES) was 1.11. On average, the pooled mean effect size(ES) according to the different research variables was large, meaning that the social skills intervention had a great effect and was socially important and necessary for socially isolated children. It would be recommended that social skills programs include appropriate target behaviors through multidisciplinary assessment process. This program should mainly focus on the improvement of prosocial behavior skills as well as reducing problem behaviors. For preschool children, over 50 minutes per session, two to three sessions per week, for a total of total over 20 sessions would be ideal. Posttest and follow-up need to perform for generalization and maintenance. Content of the program should be tailored to the developmental level as well as the interest level of the children.