Responsiveness of isolated versus rejected children to social skills training

Fifty children aged from 7 to 12 yr were identified as either isolated or rejected by peers on the basis of sociometric nomination. Subjects were randomly assigned to either social skills training (SST), attention placebo control (APC) or no-treatment control (NTC). Social skills training was not found to produce beneficial effects for either isolates or rejects over and above any changes within the APC or NTC groups. Rejected children in all experimental conditions showed minimal improvement over time whereas isolated children in all groups tended to show improvements in social competence.