Effect of a classroom-based intervention on the social skills of pupils with intellectual disability in Southwest Nigeria.

Yetunde C Adeniyi,Olayinka O Omigbodun

doi:10.1186/s13034-016-0118-3

Abstract

BackgroundStudies have demonstrated that social skill interventions and classroom supports are effective for pupils with intellectual disability. Such interventions have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of developing mental disorders, majority of which have their onset during the period of youth. Most young people with intellectual disability in low-resource settings do not have access to interventions that would enable or enhance their participation in society. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a social skills training for pupils with intellectual disability attending a special school in Southwest Nigeria.MethodsThirty pupils with mild to moderate intellectual disability participated in the study. Utilising the Explore social skills curriculum, teachers were trained to give lessons to the participants 3–4 times a week for 8 weeks in their classrooms. Social skills level of participants was assessed with the Matson evaluation of social skills for individuals with severe retardation (MESSIER) at baseline and immediately after the intervention. Paired t tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis Test were used to assess for pre and post intervention changes in social skills scores and analysis of changes in social skills across socio-demographic variables at p < 0.05.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 15.70 ± 1.89 years. At baseline, 18 of the participants (63.3 %) had moderate social skills impairment, 2 (6.7 %) had none or minimal impairments and 10 (30 %) had severe impairments. At the end of the intervention, there was a 20 % reduction in the number of participants in the severe social skills impairment category and 13.3 % increase in the number of participants in the ‘none or minimal’ social skills category. The mean pre and post- intervention total social skills scores were 126.63 ± 17.91 and 135.97 ± 20.81 respectively with a mean difference of 9.34 (t = 3.71; p = 0.001).ConclusionThe social skills of pupils with intellectual disability who participated in this study improved significantly during the 8 weeks the Explore social skills curriculum was administered. Advocacy should be made for the development and incorporation of social skills curricula into routine teaching of pupils with developmental disabilities.

Highlights

Studies have demonstrated that social skill interventions and classroom supports are effective for pupils with intellectual disability
Ten of the participants (33.3 %) were from polygamous family settings and the remaining 66.7 % were from monogamous settings
In keeping with growing evidence that social skills can be improved through classroom-based interventions [44], the findings from this study suggest that the social skills of the pupils with intellectual disability improved with the intervention

Summary

Introduction

Studies have demonstrated that social skill interventions and classroom supports are effective for pupils with intellectual disability. Adeniyi and Omigbodun Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health (2016) 10:29 in verbal and nonverbal communication [8] This can result in isolation of the individuals in social situations [9, 10], lower levels of acceptance from peers and teachers [11,12,13] and significant social disadvantage and exclusion [14]. Difficulties developing social relationships have been found to impact affective development, resulting in loneliness [18, 19], depression and suicidal ideation [20,21,22] These social and mental health problems, in turn, impact the life adjustment of pupils, and result in a higher likelihood of dropping out of school, and even engaging in aggressive and criminal behaviours [17, 23]. Social skills have been demonstrated to be important for a successful transition to adult life for young people with disabilities [24]

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