Tests a peer social skills program for teens with autism
Tests a group social skills program in Italian teens with autism.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: SOCIAL: Adaptation and Validation of the In-person PEERS® Program for Adolescents With Autism.
Key facts
- Where
- Calambrone, ItalySee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 10 and 14 years old?
Source: NCT07207213, who can take part
Where in Italy
- IRCCS Stella MarisCalambrone, ItalyNo longer taking part
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris
- Trial code
- NCT07207213
- Record updated
- 3 October 2025
- Original description
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) falls under the category of high complexity disorders which, in most cases, accompany individuals throughout their entire life with significant impacts and costs for individuals, their families, and society at large. Adolescence is a time of increasing challenge for teenagers with ASD and their families, as it is a time to lay the foundations for the transition to adulthood but at the same time, it is a period of clear mismatch between the abilities and interests of teenagers with ASD and the expectations of their peers. It becomes increasingly difficult to initiate and maintain friendships that require social skills, communicate through social media, or make appropriate use of humor. It is in peer relationships that recognizing and applying implicit social norms is more difficult, and social errors can lead to a bad reputation, exclusion, and being bullied.Read full original descriptionShow less
Italian Adaptation and Validation of the In-person UCLA-PEERS® Model for Adolescents With Autistic Spectrum Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) falls under the category of high complexity disorders which, in most cases, accompany individuals throughout their entire life with significant impacts and costs for individuals, their families, and society at large. Adolescence is a time of increasing challenge for teenagers with ASD and their families, as it is a time to lay the foundations for the transition to adulthood but at the same time, it is a period of clear mismatch between the abilities and interests of teenagers with ASD and the expectations of their peers. It becomes increasingly difficult to initiate and maintain friendships that require social skills, communicate through social media, or make appropriate use of humor. It is in peer relationships that recognizing and applying implicit social norms is more difficult, and social errors can lead to a bad reputation, exclusion, and being bullied.
This creates the need for concrete responses through evidence-based treatment programs adapted to the Italian context. In this scenario, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) fits in, a psychosocial intervention that falls under the category of Social Skill Training (SST) conducted in a group context, evidence-based, originating from the United States for adolescents with ASD that involves structured teaching of knowledge and skills related to social relationships.
SOCIAL has three main objectives: clinical, scientific, and social. The clinical objective is articulated in the study of the effectiveness of the in-person PEERS® program on an Italian population of adolescents with ASD (aged between 10 and 14) to respond to the evident need for a psychosocial intervention adapted to the Italian context. The scientific objective aims to identify an electroencephalographic biomarker that acts as a predictor of the efficacy of PEERS® and is specific to a particular individual profile. Finally, the social objective intends to extend the support network of adolescents with ASD through meetings with schools to train Teachers, thus parallelizing the treatment for generalization of the skills acquired during clinical treatment and also to the school context where peers play a key role.
SOCIAL aims to respond to a gap that exists in Italy for a critical age group involving teenagers with ASD, proposing an evidence-based treatment that extends to family and school contexts.
Inclusion: (a) age between 10 and 14 years; clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder according to ICD-10 (WHO, 1992); absence of intellectual disability (IQ over 85); absence of a concomitant major psychiatric disorder (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, psychiatric illness); absence of oppositional/aggressive behavior (outside the family context); difficulty developing and/or maintaining peer relationships; self-motivation to participate in the treatment of both the adolescent and the family; availability of a caregiver to regularly attend sessions with parents and to support the participant during the program; consent of the parents and the adolescent to participate in all evaluations and to be recorded during treatment sessions.
Exclusion: concomitant major psychiatric disorders; Full IQ below 85.