Background: The area of social skills is broad, in theory and in practice. For social skills training, various clinical practices have been applied in group sessions, as have motivational resources such as role-playing games RPGs. In recent years, the need arose to assess the clinical impact of the pandemic. The objective of this study was to determine the impact that the pandemic has had on in-person and online social skills training.
Methods: We evaluated six subjects with autism spectrum disorder, with or without another, similar disorder, each of whom attended a total of 12 two-hour RPG sessions over a month period. The original Portuguese-language version of the Social Skills Inventory for Adolescents was applied at three different time points pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Results: After six in-person tabletop RPG sessions, there was an increase in the mean frequency scores and a decrease in the mean difficulty scores.
However, during the pandemic, the remaining six sessions were conducted online and the effect was the opposite. Conclusion: Our data indicate that there is a need for further studies assessing social skills training in online contexts. The area of social skills is relevant in clinical and social contexts, not only in theory but also in application. Social skills are known to have an effect on quality of life and on psychiatric symptoms.
Various studies, involving individuals with or without psychiatric disorders, have shown that the clinical picture is better among those with social skills that are more well developed 1 , 2. Some instruments—such as the World Health Organization Quality of Life assessment, the item Outcome Questionnaire, the Child Behavior Checklist, the Group Climate Questionnaire, and the Parenting Style Inventory—assess not only clinical conditions and psychiatric symptoms but also interpersonal relationships, romantic relationships, interactions with parents, and other social aspects.
Although the social skills that an individual possesses are not the only factor that determines the outcome of a social interaction, they are certainly relevant. Because social skills constitute an important criterion for assessing well-being or mental health, their assessment is also a common step in psychological treatments for various clinical conditions, including anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, as well as diagnostic criteria such as delinquency 1 — 4.
