Efficacy of the Korean PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K) Social Skills Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (PEERS®-PS-K)

March 26, 2026 updated by: Jae Hyun Han, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital
This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the Korean version of the PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K), a parent-assisted social skills intervention for preschool-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group, receiving the PEERS®-PS-K program, or a wait-list control group. The study focuses on improving social skills, such as making friends and interacting with peers, through structured lessons and parent coaching.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The Korean PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K) is a culturally adapted version of the original PEERS® program developed at UCLA. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) will investigate the social communication improvements in preschoolers with ASD.

The intervention consists of weekly 90-minute sessions for 16 weeks. Children learn social skills through puppet shows and role-playing, while parents receive concurrent coaching to support their children's social interactions in natural settings. Data will be collected at baseline, post-intervention, and follow-up to assess social responsiveness and behavioral changes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • South Korea
    • Dongdaemun-gu
      • Seoul, Dongdaemun-gu, South Korea, 02447
        • Kyung Hee University Medical Center
    • Gyeonggi-do
      • Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, 13620
        • Seoul National University Bundang Hospital
    • Seocho-gu
      • Seoul, Seocho-gu, South Korea, 06591
        • The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children aged 4 to 6 years (at least 4 years 0 months and less than 7 years diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through standardized diagnostic tools(K-ADOS-2 / K-ADI-R).
  • Verbal Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) of 70 or higher on the Korean Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (K-WPPSI).
  • Native Korean speakers with sufficient verbal fluency to communicate in full sentences appropriate for their age.
  • Capable of participating in group activities and language-based interventions as determined through a screening procedure.
  • Parents or legal guardians who understand the study's purpose and provide voluntary informed consent for both themselves and their child.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Parents or legal guardians who do not consent to their child's participation in the study.
  • Presence of intellectual disability or other comorbid psychiatric conditions that may interfere with study participation.
  • Children exhibiting clinically significant challenging behaviors that could disrupt group sessions.
  • Other clinically significant neurological, medical, visual, or hearing impairments.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: PEERS®-PS-K Intervention Group
Participants in this group will receive the Korean version of the PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K) intervention immediately. This includes 16 weekly 90-minute sessions of social skills training for children and concurrent coaching sessions for parents.
Behavioral: The Korean version of PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K)
The Korean version of PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K) is a 16-week, parent-assisted social skills intervention for preschoolers with ASD. The program consists of weekly 90-minute sessions. Children are taught social skills through puppet shows, role-playing, and structured play, focusing on making friends, playing with peers, and managing conflicts. Concurrently, parents receive coaching sessions to learn how to facilitate their children's social interactions and manage playdates in natural settings. Weekly homework is assigned to generalize the learned skills.
Other Names:
  • Social Skills Training
  • Parent-Assisted Social Skills Intervention
Other: Waitlist Control Group
Participants will not receive any specialized social skills intervention during the first 16 weeks (control period). After the post-control assessment is completed, these participants will receive the same 16-week PEERS®-PS-K intervention.
Behavioral: The Korean version of PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K)
The Korean version of PEERS® for Preschoolers (PEERS®-PS-K) is a 16-week, parent-assisted social skills intervention for preschoolers with ASD. The program consists of weekly 90-minute sessions. Children are taught social skills through puppet shows, role-playing, and structured play, focusing on making friends, playing with peers, and managing conflicts. Concurrently, parents receive coaching sessions to learn how to facilitate their children's social interactions and manage playdates in natural settings. Weekly homework is assigned to generalize the learned skills.
Other Names:
  • Social Skills Training
  • Parent-Assisted Social Skills Intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from Baseline in SRS-2 Total T-score at 16 weeks
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The SRS-2 includes five subscales: Social Awareness, Social Cognition, Social Communication, Social Motivation, and Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behavior. Each subscale provides a T-score to identify specific areas of social impairment.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Korean version of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-III (K-Vineland-III) score
Time Frame: Baseline, 16 weeks, 32 weeks
The Korean version of Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (K-Vineland-III) is a standardized assessment of adaptive functioning in communication, daily living skills, and socialization domains. Standard scores (Mean=100, SD=15) are used, where higher scores indicate better adaptive functioning in daily life.
Baseline, 16 weeks, 32 weeks
Change in Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is a parent-report screening tool for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms. It assesses social interaction and communication skills. Higher total scores indicate more severe social communication deficits.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Quality of Socialization Questionnaire (QSQ) measures the number and quality of an individual's friendships and the frequency of social interactions. Higher scores reflect a higher quality and frequency of social involvement.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool (BRIEF-P) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P) assesses executive function behaviors in preschool-aged children, including inhibition, shifting, and emotional control. Higher T-scores indicate greater executive function impairment.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC) is a parent-report measure of a child's emotional regulation and lability. Higher scores on the Emotion Regulation subscale indicate better emotional control, while higher scores on the Lability/Negativity subscale indicate greater emotional instability.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1.5-5) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for ages 1.5-5 is used to identify emotional and behavioral problems in young children. Higher T-scores on the Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales indicate more significant behavioral challenges.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Preschool Anxiety Scale (PAS) is a parent-report measure designed to assess symptoms of anxiety in preschool-aged children. It covers domains such as generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and separation anxiety. Higher total scores indicate a higher level of anxiety symptoms in the child.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The STAI is a self-report instrument used to measure the presence and severity of current anxiety (state) and a general tendency to be anxious (trait) in adults. Higher scores indicate higher levels of anxiety in parents.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The BDI-II is a widely used self-report scale to assess the severity of depressive symptoms in adults. Higher total scores reflect more significant depressive symptoms.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change from Baseline in Korean Parent Efficacy Test (K-PET) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The K-PET is a standardized self-report instrument developed by Jung-mi Kim to assess parenting efficacy in parents of children aged 1 to 6 years. It consists of two main domains: the Parent domain (15 items focusing on parenting competence and satisfaction) and the Spouse domain (14 items focusing on co-parenting and spouse support). Total scores are calculated on a 5-point Likert scale, where higher scores reflect a higher sense of parenting efficacy and better co-parenting quality.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Parenting Stress Index-4-Short Form (PSI-4-SF) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The PSI-4-SF assesses the level of stress in the parent-child system. Higher total scores indicate a greater degree of stress related to the parenting role and child-rearing.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
Change in Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) score
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)
The Child-Parent Relationship Scale (CPRS) is a self-report measure for parents to assess their relationship with their child. It evaluates aspects such as closeness and conflict within the parent-child dyad. Higher scores on the closeness subscale and lower scores on the conflict subscale indicate a more positive and secure relationship.
Baseline, Post-intervention (16 weeks), and Follow-up (32 weeks)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

Collaborators

Seoul St. Mary's Hospital
Kyung Hee University Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jae Hyun Han, MD, PhD Candidate, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine
  • Study Director: Hee Jeong Yoo, MD, PhD, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 19, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 1, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 26, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • B-2601-1021-001
  • 02-2025-0004 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Seoul National University Bundang Hospital)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the study participants, who are young children with neurodevelopmental disorders. The informed consent obtained from parents does not include provisions for the public sharing of raw individual data.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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