Chapter 3 Social Skills Training and Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

There is a large body of literature suggesting that students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) lack appropriate social skills, including deficits in building and maintaining interpersonal relationships, prosocial behaviors (e.g., sharing, helping, cooperation), and self-management strategies. While the literature shows small to modest effects of social skills training, these results can in part be contributed to how instruction is delivered. Best practice in social skills instruction includes screening when selecting students for intervention, identifying targeted skills and competing problem behaviors, conducting a functional assessment, and evaluating the effects of intervention. Current issues and perspectives related to social skills training for students with EBD are addressed.