Does Online Social Skills Training Actually Work? What the Research Says
“Social skills… over a screen? Surely that can't work as well as being in the same room.”
If that's your first reaction, you're in good company — it's the single most common doubt parents raise with me. And it's a completely reasonable one. Social skills are about being with other people, so the idea of learning them through a video call can feel backwards.
I had the same doubt myself. So rather than ask you to take my word for it, let's look at what the research actually shows.
What the research found
The PEERS® program was developed at UCLA, and researchers there set out to test this exact question. In a 2022 study, they compared a group of teens who completed the program online via telehealth with a much larger group who completed it in person.
The teens who did it online made significant improvements — in their social skills knowledge, their social responsiveness, their overall social skills, a reduction in problem behaviours, and in how much they were actually getting out and socialising.
But the most important finding is this: there was no meaningful difference between the online group and the in-person group. The online teens did just as well. In the words of the researchers, telehealth outcomes were relatively equivalent to in-person delivery.
In other words, online social skills training isn't a watered-down version of “the real thing.” For teaching these skills, it is the real thing.
Why online can actually work better
Beyond simply matching in-person results, there are real reasons online delivery can suit some teens and families even more:
Access — and this matters enormously in Australia. If you're rural, regional, in WA, or hours from the nearest city, there often isn't a PEERS group anywhere near you. Online removes that barrier entirely — the program comes to your lounge room, with no long round trips after a full school day. The researchers themselves highlight this: telehealth significantly widens access to families who otherwise couldn't get to a group at all.
Comfort — especially for an anxious teen. For many of our teens, walking into a room full of strangers is the hardest part of the whole experience. Online, they begin from their own bedroom — their safe space. With the anxiety barrier lowered, they're far more likely to actually engage rather than freeze at the door.
They learn the skills where they'll use them. So much of teen friendship now happens at home, online, and over text. Learning social skills in that same environment helps them transfer into everyday life.
“But don't they need real-world practice?”
Yes — and they get it. This is the part that reassures most parents. Online is where teens learn the skills; the real world is where they practise them, through structured get-togethers and homework out in their own lives.
And it isn't a teen sitting alone in front of a screen. Every week there's a live group get-together, so they're practising with real peers the whole way through. The skills are taught online and rehearsed in real situations — which is exactly how lasting change happens.
So — can online social skills training really work?
The research says yes: just as effectively as in person. And for a great many Australian families, online is the only way they would ever be able to access this kind of evidence-based support at all.
If you'd like a place to start:
Download our free guide, 5 Steps to Making and Keeping Friends (socialskillsaustralia.com.au/free-ebook).
Book a free chat with me (socialskillsaustralia.com.au/register) to talk through whether the program is right for your teen.
Research reference: Efficacy of PEERS® for Adolescents via Telehealth Delivery, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (2022). Social Skills Australia delivers UCLA's evidence-based PEERS® program online for teens and young adults with autism and ADHD across Australia.