PEERS® (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) is an evidence-based social skills program for adolescents, developed by Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson at UCLA in 2004 and one of the most widely used programs of its kind worldwide.
The program teaches adolescents who have difficulty making and maintaining friendships a range of social skills through concrete rules and step-by-step strategies, including initiating conversations, choosing appropriate friends, responding to teasing and bullying, managing disagreements, and spending time together.
One of the defining features of PEERS is the active involvement of parents in the process. Parents are trained as “social coaches” and guide adolescents in applying the skills they learn at home, at school, and in social settings.
Today, the program is implemented in more than 150 countries, has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and is internationally recognised as one of the most strongly evidence-supported social skills interventions for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
PEERS for Adolescents is a structured 14-week program consisting of concurrent 90-minute weekly sessions for adolescents and their parents. Each session builds on the skills and concepts introduced in the previous session.
| Week | Topic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Conversation Skills I — Exchanging Information |
| 2 | Conversation Skills II — Reciprocal Conversation |
| 3 | Conversation Skills III — Electronic Communication |
| 4 | Choosing Appropriate Friends |
| 5 | Using Humour Appropriately |
| 6 | Joining a Conversation |
| 7 | Exiting a Conversation |
| 8 | Get-Togethers |
| 9 | Good Sportsmanship |
| 10 | Rejection I — Teasing and Embarrassing Feedback |
| 11 | Rejection II — Bullying and Negative Reputation |
| 12 | Managing Disagreements |
| 13 | Rumours and Gossip |
| 14 | Graduation and Program Completion |
Each week, the adolescent session includes the following components:
In the concurrent parent session, parents learn the social coaching component of the same skill and practise how to guide their adolescent in applying it in real-life situations.
PEERS is designed for adolescents who are motivated to make friends and willing to participate voluntarily in the program. Its evidence-based effectiveness has been demonstrated in the following groups:
From a broader perspective, any adolescent who does not know how to initiate and maintain friendships may benefit from PEERS. Because the program focuses on developing skills rather than “correcting social mistakes,” it has broad applicability across diagnoses.
The first randomised controlled trial of PEERS was published in 2009 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (Laugeson, Frankel, Mogil & Dillon, 2009). The study compared adolescents aged 13–17 with ASD who participated in the PEERS group with a delayed-treatment control group. The PEERS group showed:
has been found.
Subsequent studies have replicated these findings. Additional improvements have also been reported in autism-related symptoms, particularly social responsiveness.
In their 2021 meta-analysis, Zheng, Kim, Salzman, Ankenman, and Bent reported effect sizes for PEERS across the following areas in adolescents with autism:
(Hedges’ g: 0.2 is considered a small effect size, 0.5 a moderate effect size, and 0.8 a large effect size.)
A long-term follow-up study published by Mandelberg, Laugeson, Cunningham, Ellingsen, Bates, and Frankel in 2013 showed that adolescents who completed PEERS maintained the gains they made 1–5 years after completing the program. Assessments conducted an average of 29 months after the end of the program found that social skills were maintained and had improved in some areas.
PEERS has been adapted and validated across a range of cultural contexts worldwide. It is implemented in more than 150 countries, including Türkiye, and has demonstrated strong adaptability across cultural differences.
A 2022 study by Estabillo and colleagues found that PEERS delivered in an online format demonstrated similar effectiveness to the in-person format. This provides an opportunity to access the program from geographically diverse locations.
An adolescent who completes PEERS and their parent, who serves as their social coach, develop the following skills:
Peer rejection and social isolation during adolescence have been associated with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, substance use, academic difficulties, school dropout, and suicidal thoughts. In contrast, having one or two close friends is a protective factor associated with better adjustment later in life and may buffer the effects of stressful life events.
PEERS provides a concrete, evidence-based approach to building this protective factor.
The features that distinguish PEERS from other social skills programs include:
PEERS does not suggest that there is a single “correct” way of being socially. The program is grounded in the following principle:
People experience the world in different ways. Differences do not make us more or less valuable. There is strength in neurodiversity. PEERS takes a strengths-based approach.
The strategies taught in the training are presented as “socially helpful” and “socially risky” behaviours. Where and when to use a particular strategy is always the participant’s choice. If a strategy makes an individual feel as though they are moving away from their authentic self, they are not required to use it.
PEERS can be delivered by mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, family counsellors), teachers, and school-based professionals who have completed the certified training seminar. Professionals who complete the training gain the competence to deliver the program in their own settings, including clinical settings, schools, and special education centres.
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