Darling SJ, Goods M, Ryan NP, et al. - Researchers examined if behavioral interventions in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental or mental health disorders are associated with improvement in their social function and social cognition.

• From the PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and PubMed electronic databases, researchers included a total of 31 trials comprising 2,131 participants (1,711 [80%] male; 420 [20%] female; mean [SD] age, 10.8 [2.2] years) with neurodevelopmental or mental health disorders (autism spectrum disorder [ASD] [n = 23], attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [n = 4], other conditions associated with social deficits [n = 4]).

• Children and adolescents who received behavioral interventions for social deficits were reported to exhibit significantly greater gains in social function and social cognition when compared with participants receiving the control conditions.

• Overall findings suggest that social skills training might benefit children and adolescents with social deficits regardless of their specific neurodevelopmental or mental health diagnosis.