Evaluation of a group counseling program designed to enhance social adjustment of mentally retarded adults.

A group of moderately retarded (mean IQ 47, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test [PPVT]), institutionalized residents (20 males, 24 females) received 10 wks of structured group counseling. The group counseling program, in which the counselor played a dual role as teacher-model and group leader, focused on 5 areas of social and personal adjustment. The residents' improvement was assessed by the PPUT, the Adaptive Behavior Scale, and nomination by peers and ward staff. The experimental and control groups were compared using the pretest scores as the covariate. Results show that in each of the above variables, the experimental group showed a greater mean score than that of the control group. This is interpreted as supporting the contention that group counseling of a primarily verbal nature can be effective in enhancing social adjustment skills of residents with moderate intellectual deficiency. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)