Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 Oct;51(10):3637-3650.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04801-z. Epub 2021 Jan 3.

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Video Gaming-Based Social Skills Program for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Renae Beaumont  1   2 , Hugh Walker  3   4 , Jonathan Weiss  5 , Kate Sofronoff  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Video Gaming-Based Social Skills Program for Children on the Autism Spectrum

Renae Beaumont et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Families often face financial and geographical barriers to services for children with autism. The current study explored the effectiveness of a parent-supported adaptation of the computer game-based social skills program Secret Agent Society (SAS). Seventy child-parent dyads were randomized to SAS (n = 35) or a caregiver-supported cognitive skills training game (CIA-control comparison; n = 35), both completed over 10 weeks. Child participants were on the autism spectrum and aged seven to 12 years (60 boys, 10 girls). SAS participants improved more than CIA participants on parent-rated social skills and problem behaviors and teacher-rated social skills. Findings suggest the intervention may be a convenient, cost-effective therapeutic approach, especially during times of restricted face-to-face service access, such as COVID-19.

Keywords: Autism; Children; Online; Parent-supported; Social skills training; Video game.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Renae Beaumont is the Secret Agent Society Program developer, and receives royalty payments on all program materials and practitioner training courses sold. All other authors of this paper declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants through each stage of the randomized controlled trial and completion of primary parent social and emotional regulation skills outcome measures
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graphical displays of the primary outcome variables between conditions across time. a Mean SSQ-P scores between conditions across time. b Mean ERSSQ-P scores between conditions across time
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2013.
    1. Attwood A. The complete guide to Asperger's syndrome. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2006.
    1. Beaumont R. Secret agent society: Solving the mystery of social encounters—Facilitator manual. St Lucia: Social Skills Training Pty Ltd; 2010.
    1. Beaumont R, Sofronoff K. A multi-component social skills intervention for children with Asperger syndrome: The Junior Detective Training Program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2008;49(7):743–753. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01967_1.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beaumont R, Rotolone C, Sofronoff K. The Secret Agent Society social skills program for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders: A comparison of two school variants. Psychology in the Schools. 2015;52(4):390–402. doi: 10.1002/pits.21831. - DOI

Publication types