S.S.GRIN Article Published in ASCA’s Professional School Counseling Journal

Abstract: School counselors are under increasing pressure to evaluate their programs in a manner consistent with teachers and other educators. A small-group counseling intervention was used by a school counselor as part of a three-level program planning initiative that illustrated best research practices to evaluate program outcomes. Forty-nine third-grade students with social skills deficits participated in a 10-week social skills intervention. Results indicated that children participating in the intervention experienced reduced loneliness and social anxiety as well as improved academic achievement. Implications for school counselors conducting evaluations in a practical and time-efficient manner are discussed. (Log in to ASCA to read full article).

S.S.GRIN (Social Skills Group Intervention) is an effective group counseling program that has been used in hundreds of school, clinic, and community settings to reduce bullying and help children with peer and relationship problems.  Children who have poor peer relations become increasingly isolated and are at risk for poor outcomes.  S.S.GRIN addresses this problem by teaching the social skills that research shows are critical to peer acceptance.  Multiple studies have shown that S.S.GRIN is highly effective from early childhood to adolescence:

  • 24% increase in “Being liked by peers”
  • 44% decrease in aggression (especially for bullies)
  • 63% decrease in antisocial affiliations
  • Results hold up over multiple years

Professional School Counseling journal communicates the latest theory, research, practice, techniques, materials and ideas to assist school counseling professionals at all levels in their professional development. Additionally, it strengthens bonds among school counselors and helps maintain a shared awareness of the roles, problems and progress of school counseling at various settings and levels.

This award-winning journal is published six times a year.

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    DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

    Chief of Research and Learning Content

    BIOGRAPHY

    Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    Expertise

    • autism
    • early development
    • behavioral measurement
    • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

    Education

    • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

    Selected Publications

    • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
    • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
    • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
    • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
    • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
    • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
    • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.