Katherine Koplow Professional Article Review

PRT 3330-Professional article review by Katherine Koplow

Social Competence: Evaluation of an Outpatient Recreation Therapy Treatment Program for Children with Behavioral Disorders Therapeutic Recreation Journal Katherine Koplow University of Utah

Katherine Koplow Professional Article Review

The purpose of this article is to show the results that recreational therapy has on outpatient treatment programs for children who have behavioral disorders by analyzing the research conducted by Erin Rothwell, Ph.D., TRS, CTRS, CRSS, Jennifer Piatt, Ph. D., CTRS, and Kelly Mattinngly, TRS, CTRS. Summary Development of social competencies during childhood has a critical influence on ones social skills and success later on in life. The U.S. Surgeon General Report stated that one in ten children under the age of 18 experience significant mental health problems but only one in five who need treatment will receive it. This means that about 20% of children in the United States will experience some level of impairment that will affect their normal development and functioning. This is a despondent statistic because untreated mental illnesses and health problems affect the developmental process thus leading future health to be unstable and create other problematic behaviors. The goal of a recreational therapist, in this case, is to address the need to improve social skills, which is considered an essential component of social competence, for those who have mental illness and change the mental health environment with the aide of recreational therapy. One method to address biological and psychological factors as well as social competence is the Leisure Ability Model. This method provides direction and definition on how to deliver recreational therapy services. This treatment is designed to help improve social skills in youth. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an out-patient recreation therapy program designed to enhance social skills of children with behavioral disorders (Rothwell, Piatt & Mattingly, 2006, 242). The goal was to

Katherine Koplow Professional Article Review

increase social skills through recreation therapy and reduce the negative effects of mental illness (Rothwell, Piatt & Mattingly, 2006, 243). The evidence of this study showed that Leisure Ability Model was effective and had a positive impact on improving the social skills of the participants and can be used to provide practical interventions. Therefore, recreation therapy that addresses social skill development potentially is one of the most vital interventions for helping provide treatment to children with mental disorders. Research and Findings The Leisure Ability Model is made up of three parts: functional intervention, leisure education and recreation participation. The goal of the combination of these components was to increase social interactions during leisure to make the recreational activity more meaningful and enjoyable. If the individual cant enjoy social interactions with people in their environment the leisure activity cant be as fulfilling. Recreational therapist spent time to address this issue by providing social skills training. They followed the therapeutic recreation process by assessing the problem, introducing social skills to client, demonstrating and modeling appropriate social behaviors, practicing and reinforcing the behaviors and generalizing different situations. Little research has been done on improving social competence but is a key goal in order to help individuals feel more accepted, valued and included in community settings (Rothwell, Piatt & Mattingly, 2006, 245). The research conducted was for children 5- 12 years old with mental illness who participated in a two week treatment program that provided social skills training in hopes of improving social function, selfmanagement and self independence. The School Social Behavior Scales (SSBS) was used to evaluate the students. This evaluation was composed of 13 questions used to evaluate

Katherine Koplow Professional Article Review

social competence (which is dived into interpersonal skills, self-management skills, and academic skills) and anti-social behavior scale (which has three subscales of hostileirritable, antisocial-aggressive, disruptive-demanding) and a workbook that shows how individuals would respond to social situations. This helped provide data to be evaluated that was a form of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The treatment team was composed of child psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, educational specialist, psychiatric technician and a recreation therapist whose goals were to focus on helping the children to develop adaptive coping skills, stronger interpersonal/social relationships, increase self-esteem, greater autonomy, and educational progress (Rothwell, Piatt & Mattingly, 2006, 246). The treatment focused on social skills, leisure education and self-esteem. The program was 14-21 days and those that were participating remained in one group throughout the day where they attended school in the morning, had lunch, participated in recreational therapy, physical activity and social work groups; where recreational therapy was the only program that was attended daily. The results showed that 89% of answers from the SSBS appeared to support the positive results of the Social Competency Scale, yet of that 89%, 21% of the answers from the children seemed scripted. Implications for Practice and Expanded Results Recreational therapist tried to use social experiences that their participants would actually be facing. Although this was an intense experience for children that forced them to engage in social situations all day the program might have been to scripted and formal

Katherine Koplow Professional Article Review

for the age group creating results that were at a higher level of terminology than the age population should be using. The research and evaluation can be very helpful for future studies and therapy practices, as well as help create new program implementations for improving social skills. It would have been beneficial if the study had been longer than two weeks and there was a larger sample size. The article suggested that the Leisure Ability Model was a good protocol for social skills interventions and a good start for recreational therapy social skills training but more research is needed to see the impact of recreational therapy for those with behavioral disorders and a lack of social competency.

Rothwell, E., Piatt, J., & Mattingly, K. (2006). Social competence: Evaluation of an outpatient recreation therapy treatment program for children with behavioral disorders . Therapeutic Recreation Journal , 40(4), 241-254.