Using psychodrama to relieve social barriers in an autistic child:A case study and literature review

Objective:To review and update the evidence for the effect of psychodrama for children with autism,and evaluate the effect of psychodrama on an autistic child with severe social barriers,using the theory of mind and psychodrama methodology as the analytical frameworks.Methods:A 5 year-old boy,the research object,was diagnosed as severe autism using behavior observation and autism screening tools,with an DSM-Ⅵcriteria.Autism symptom severity was usually measured by Childhood Autism Rating Scale(CARS)and Autism Behavior Checklist(ABC)in research of autism.In this study,the autistic boy accepted psychodrama training and was measured with CARS before and after the entire training program.The ABC was adopted to evaluate him after each intervention program.Meanwhile the entire training process was recorded.The evaluation criterion consists of four aspects including eye contact,following instructions,focusing attention and imitation ability.Finally,all live records and changes presented in volume tables were analyzed.Results:The patient's social barriers were relieved at the end of the third month of the training program.The CARS data shows a shift fromthe severe to moderate level of autism.Conclusions:It was possible for autistic children to relieve social barriers by implementing psychodrama training,then to improve the social cognitive ability and enhance the social function of the autistic children.These results provided basic Clinical implications for exploring a new intervention technique to reduce autistic symptom severity.

Can Hugging a Stranger Help Break Down Social Barriers?

For most Westerners, hugging is a perfectly acceptable way of greeting people, making

What gets in the way of social engagement in schizophrenia?

BACKGROUND Social engagement-important for health and well-being-can be difficult for people with schizophrenia.Past research indicates that despite expressing interest in social interactions,people with schizophrenia report spending less time with others and feeling lonely.Social motivations and barriers may play an important role for understanding social engagement in schizophrenia.AIM To investigate how people with schizophrenia describe factors that impede and promote social engagement.METHODS We interviewed a community sample of people with(n=35)and without(n=27)schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder about their social interactions with friends and family over the past week and planned social activities for the coming week.We reviewed the interview transcripts and developed a novel coding system to capture whether interactions occurred,who had initiated the contact,and frequency of reported social barriers(i.e.,internal,conflict-based,logistical)and social motivations(i.e.,instrumental,affiliative,obligation-based).We also assessed symptoms and functioning.RESULTS People with schizophrenia were less likely than people without schizophrenia to have spent time with friends[t(51.04)=2.09,P=0.042,d=0.51)],but not family.People with schizophrenia reported more social barriers than people without schizophrenia[F(1,60)=10.55,P=0.002,ηp2=0.15)]but did not differ in reported social motivations.Specifically,people with schizophrenia reported more internal[t(45.75)=3.40,P=0.001,d=0.83)]and conflict-based[t(40.11)=3.03,P=0.004,d=0.73)]barriers than people without schizophrenia.Social barriers and motivations were related to real-world social functioning for people with schizophrenia,such that more barriers were associated with more difficulty in close relationships(r=-0.37,P=0.027)and more motivations were associated with better community functioning(r=0.38,P=0.024).CONCLUSION These findings highlight the importance of assessing first person accounts of social barriers and motivations to better understand social engagement in schizophrenia.