Brief Report: Feasibility of Delivering the Secret Agent Society Group Social Skills Program via Telehealth During COVID-19: A Pilot Exploration.
Carmen A Mootz, Amy Lemelman, Jennifer Giordano and 2 others
PMID 35596024WHAT IT FOUND
Five families and clinicians found delivering a social skills program online feasible.
Parents valued the convenience and accessibility. Children and parents noted that the online format limited informal socialization and peer practice compared to in-person groups.
Key findings
01All five children completed the program and returned feedback forms, while only three of five parents returned forms.
02Parents and clinicians identified increased accessibility and convenience as key strengths of the telehealth format.
03A primary challenge reported by children and parents was the lack of opportunity for informal socialization and peer interaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was extremely small (five children), limiting generalizability. There were no quantitative measures of social skills or emotion regulation, so effectiveness cannot be determined. Parent feedback response rate was low (60%), with two of five families not returning forms. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may have influenced participant expectations and the specific challenges faced. No control group or comparison to in-person delivery was included.
Declared interests
The paper does not report specific funding sources or conflicts of interest in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the positive qualitative feedback as evidence that telehealth SAS is effective at improving social skills. The study lacked quantitative outcome measures and a control group, so it only demonstrates that the program was feasible to deliver, not that it produced clinical change.