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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on March 25, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsp018
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A Group Social Skills Intervention Program for Survivors of Childhood Brain Tumors

M. Barrera, PhD CPsych1,2 and F. Schulte, MA1,2

1Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children and 2Department of Public Health Science, University of Toronto

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Maru Barrera, Department of Psychology, SickKids, 555 University Ave., Toronto, ON, M5G1X8. E-mail: maru.barrera{at}sickkids.ca


  Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary outcomes of a social skills group intervention program for child brain tumor survivors. Methods Participants were 32 survivors (14 females) aged 8–18 years. Medulloblastoma (28%) was the main diagnosis. The intervention consisted of eight 2-hr weekly sessions focused on social skills including friendship making and assertion. Survivors and parents completed measures of social skills, quality of life, behavior and depression, at baseline, pre- and post-intervention, and 6 months later. Results Feasibility analyses revealed promising acceptability, retention, recruitment, and treatment fidelity. Significant improvement was found after intervention based on parents’ reports of self-control [F(1,27) = 5.97, p <.05], social skills [F(1,28) = 5.70, p <.05], and quality of life [F(1,15) = 17.98, p <.01]. Conclusions The intervention is feasible and outcomes based on parental reports provide preliminary support for the efficacy of the program.

Key words: pediatric brain tumors; social skills; intervention..

Received July 31, 2008; revision received February 24, 2009; accepted February 24, 2009


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