ERIC Number: EJ1050775
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Feb
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Measuring the Plasticity of Social Approach: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of the PEERS Intervention on EEG Asymmetry in Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Van Hecke, Amy Vaughan; Stevens, Sheryl; Carson, Audrey M.; Karst, Jeffrey S.; Dolan, Bridget; Schohl, Kirsten; McKindles, Ryan J.; Remmel, Rheanna; Brockman, Scott
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v45 n2 p316-335 Feb 2015
This study examined whether the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills ("PEERS: Social skills for teenagers with developmental and autism spectrum disorders: The PEERS treatment manual," Routledge, New York, 2010a) affected neural function, via EEG asymmetry, in a randomized controlled trial of adolescents with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a group of typically developing adolescents. Adolescents with ASD in PEERS shifted from right-hemisphere gamma-band EEG asymmetry before PEERS to left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry after PEERS, versus a waitlist ASD group. Left-hemisphere EEG asymmetry was associated with more social contacts and knowledge, and fewer symptoms of autism. Adolescents with ASD in PEERS no longer differed from typically developing adolescents in left-dominant EEG asymmetry at post-test. These findings are discussed via the Modifier Model of Autism (Mundy et al. in "Res Pract Persons Severe Disabl" 32(2):124, 2007), with emphasis on remediating isolation/withdrawal in ASD.
Descriptors: Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Adolescents, Interpersonal Competence, Program Effectiveness, Brain, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Medicine, Pretests Posttests
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A