The Secret Agent Society Social-Emotional Skills Program for Children With a High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Parent-Directed Trial

This study evaluated a parent-delivered social and emotional skills intervention-the Secret Agent Society (SAS) for children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HF-ASD). The study was a pre-post follow-up design with an 8-week baseline period and 6-week follow-up period. Participants were 38 parents and 41 children recruited from regional/rural Queensland and metropolitan Brisbane, Australia. Child participants completed measures of social skills and emotion management, and parents completed measures related to child behavioral problems, parent self-efficacy, child anxiety, and parent emotional distress at pre-intervention, post intervention, and 6-week follow-up. Analyses of outcomes were conducted with a series of repeated-measures MANOVAs and one-way ANOVAs at post intervention and 6-week follow-up. There were significant improvements in child social skills reported by parents with gains maintained at 6-week follow-up with large effect sizes. Parent self-efficacy, child behavior, and child anxiety levels also improved significantly. In addition, outcomes from the SAS self-directed program were compared with the original clinic-based program conducted by Beaumont and Sofronoff. Results indicated greater changes in social skills outcomes in the clinic-based program and no difference between groups on emotional management strategies. The limitations of the study and clinical implications are discussed.