Consistent with his Asperger’s disorder diagnosis, he had a difficult time with more abstract concepts, but excelled with the use of concrete, written materials. For example, the use of the social network circle allowed him to assess his support system in a visual way. The social nature of the group also provided important peer support and practice in sharing and engaging others. Youth 2 particularly benefited from the “Building Your Social Network” module. He initially endorsed having no friendships, but gradually added names of group members to his social network over the course of treatment. At the same time, NVP-BGJ398 concentration the difficulties inherent in having

an individual with an autism spectrum disorder in the group were apparent. As he became more comfortable in the group, he became very verbal and attention seeking with other members and was unable to recognize nonverbal social cues from group members and leaders. Toward the latter end of the group, his behavior required the group leaders to pull him aside often to explain why his behavior (e.g., butting in, taunting) was inappropriate (e.g., alienating others). At posttreatment, Youth 2 was still experiencing bullying on a daily basis, though he no longer reported any impairment from SAD. In regard to bullying,

he stated, “The group didn’t change [the bullying] Adriamycin but it helped a bit on how to handle it.” By the end of group, Youth 2 was regularly visiting his school counselor to discuss his victimization. He reported that bullying only mildly impacted his mood, relationships with friends and family, or school performance. Youth 3 was a 12-year-old, Caucasian seventh-grade boy who lived with his father and older sister. The boy’s mother passed away several years ago. His father (college graduate) worked in retail sales, earning an annual $30,000–40,000. At pretreatment, Youth 3 met criteria for SAD and GAD, with subclinical diagnoses of MDD and separation anxiety disorder (SEP). Youth 3 had few friends and reported a significant bullying history involving being teased, excluded from PtdIns(3,4)P2 groups, being called homophobic slurs, and being told that no one likes

him. He had also been punched by older kids in his neighborhood, excluded from lunch tables at school, and left out of games in the neighborhood. He reported that bullying most strongly impacted his relationship with his family as he became easily annoyed by his father and sister, didn’t want to spend time with them, and felt he couldn’t confide to his family. Youth 3 found the structure of the group helpful, enabling him to speak with peers about his problems. The structured role plays and exposure component also engaged his more creative side, and prompted him to think about solutions to bullying in ways that he had not before considered. For example, during the course of a role play about making new friends, he was especially persistent when trying to ask a confederate peer to “hang out.