Evaluating the Efficacy of a Group Social Skills Intervention
Condition: Brain Tumours
MeSH terms: Brain Neoplasms
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Tumours affecting the brain are a very heterogeneous group of diseases. Accordingly,
      treatment strategies vary widely depending on child's age, tumour location, its resectability
      and histology. As a group, however, the survival rate of childhood brain tumors has improved
      in recent years, resulting in an increased number of survivors returning to school and
      reintegrating into their communities. Survival for many of them, however, has also come with
      severe costs such as neurocognitive and academic difficulties. Cognitive rehabilitation
      strategies to address these deficits have been a major focus of recent research. Evidence is
      now also mounting for social competence deficits among this population which may persist into
      late adolescence and adulthood, thereby negatively affecting long-term survivorship. Thus,
      there is an urgency to identify psychosocial interventions, such as social skills programs,
      that can reduce the social competence deficits in childhood brain tumor survivors and,
      therefore, modify the course of these outcomes to ensure that survivors thrive and become
      productive members of society. To date, no rigorous social skills intervention trials have
      been undertaken to address the social difficulties of these survivors. The current proposal
      is the first study that aims to address this gap by evaluating the efficacy of an innovative,
      manualized, social skills intervention program developed for this population using a
      multi-centre Randomized Control Trial (RCT).
    

Detailed description: 
      Children and adolescents who are treated for brain tumours are faced with a variety of
      problems that affect the way they live their lives: one of the biggest problems is limited
      contact with friends and peers. This study aims to help kids and teens deal with this
      problem. The purpose of this study is to give kids who are treated for brain tumors
      opportunities to meet with other kids with similar experiences by participating in one of two
      social skills groups to improve how they related to one another. Investigators are assessing
      if these programs are beneficial to kids who have had brain tumours and which group is best.
      Kids will be assigned randomly to one of two groups. In both groups kids will meet with the
      other participants and with the facilitators for two hours once a week for 8 weeks. Kids in
      both groups will have introductions, group rules and group purpose (learn to relate with one
      another) through fun with games and arts and crafts. In one group, the games and crafts will
      be used for learning social skills. In the other group, arts and crafts and playing will be
      the focus of the activities, with the goal for each session determined by creating a craft or
      playing a game where everyone can win. One parent and all kids will complete questionnaires
      before the group starts, after the last group session as well as 6 months following the
      group. The questionnaires will ask questions about feeling, actions and getting along with
      others. Investigators also plan to visit the child's school so that the child, classmates and
      teachers will fill out questionnaires about friendships.
    

Intervention name(s): Structured social skills training program, SSIP; CG - social skills activities
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Detailed, session by session, in the manual written for this purpose. It addresses six major social skills, one per session, starting with easier skills (Social Initiation and Friendship Making, Cooperation) and moving towards more complex skills (Managing Teasing and Bullying, Conflict Resolution, Empathy, and Assertion).; Sessions will not be designed around a specific social skill and activities and games will not have a specific focus. CG sessions will be conducted by facilitators who will receive the standard training for volunteers and will work under the supervision of one of the investigators at each site.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: pediatric; Childhood Brain Tumour Survivors; Social Skills Rating System; social skills intervention program (SSIP)