creating meaningful change
SAS Evidence
How effective is Secret Agent Society?
Multiple University and community trials including four randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have shown SAS to be effective in improving outcomes for children’s emotion regulation and social needs when delivered in clinic, school and telehealth contexts.
With over 25 published papers, SAS is recognised as one of the world’s leading evidence-based social-emotional programs for children aged 7–12 years.
In the first published randomized controlled trial through the University of Queensland, 76% of autistic children aged 8 to 12 years made clinically meaningful shifts in social-emotional outcomes, with changes maintained five months later.
A multi-clinic randomised control trial conducted at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital found SAS Small Group to be more effective than usual services for neurodivergent children diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, and anxiety disorders, with improvements maintained at 6-month follow-up. SAS Small Group was shown to be equally effective regardless of the number and type of diagnoses that children in the trial presented with.
Additional research evaluations within child mental health and developmental disability services are currently underway or being prepared for publication by research teams based in Dublin, Ireland, Melbourne, Australia, and York University, Canada.
An evaluation conducted at the University of Queensland demonstrated the effectiveness of the SAS Small Group program for children who had social-emotional support needs, but who were not on the autism spectrum. This trial included students with learning difficulties, ADHD, anxiety disorders and those who had not been formally diagnosed. SAS was as effective for these children as for autistic children in previous trials, with significant improvements in children’s emotional-regulation skills, anxiety levels and social goals.
An independent evaluation of the SAS Small Group program conducted across five Australian school districts showed significant changes in emotional regulation and peer interactions that were sustained at 1 year follow-up. Results showed that supplementing the school curriculum with SAS led to significantly greater gains than with the standard specialist school curriculum alone, with SAS shown to be equally effective irrespective of students’ socio-economic context, verbal comprehension level, gender, or age (between 8 and 14 years). This three-year evaluation involved collaboration between Autism Spectrum Australia (ASPECT) and academics from the University of Sydney, University of Queensland, Monash University, Griffith University, Westmead Children’s Hospital and King’s College (London).
An Australian-based trial of SAS was conducted in mainstream schools comparing the effectiveness of a variant of the SAS Small Group program to the educator-led use of the SAS Computer Game Pack. Results showed that both approaches led to improvements in the emotional regulation and social outcomes of autistic students, although the small group program led to greater gains. The Small Group Program participants also displayed reductions in child anxiety, improvements in student behaviour and enhanced parent and teacher self-efficacy.
Multiple sites across the world have conducted community implementation projects to demonstrate the benefits of using the SAS Small Group program in local clinical, disability and education services. These include the National Educational Psychology Service in Ireland, Geneva Centre for Autism in Canada, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Buffalo School Districts in USA and Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital, USA, Lucena Clinic in Ireland, Alfred Health in Australia, and both York and Carleton Universities in Canada.
Gender Effects on Program Outcomes
Findings from several trials described above have shown SAS to be equally effective, regardless of children’s gender. The SAS Small Group Program materials have been updated over time to improve gender diversity and neutrality across graphics, activities, and specific program content in response to feedback from children, parents and professionals.
Online & Individual Delivery
Telehealth/Remote learning and hybrid formats have been validated across multiple independent trials. These options start to break down geographic barriers and enable families to access high-quality support from home while maintaining strong engagement and outcomes.
Evaluations also support individual delivery using the SAS Small Group Program resources in Australia and Canada. Group sizes range from 1 Cadet with a trained SAS Facilitator through to 6 children (with 2 trained SAS Facilitators).
Parent and Teacher Impact
Research has shown how SAS strengthens relationships around children, nurturing a shared understanding of their unique strengths and needs by members of their support team. Parents and teachers increase their agreement on identifying and understanding children's needs and skills. The wellbeing of parents increases through adopting more mindful, positive (and less coercive) parenting practices, and report greater parenting confidence after involvement in SAS Small Group.
Children of Different Ages and Learning
Research demonstrates the effectiveness of SAS Small Group with children aged 7-12 years. In the community, the program is used with a wider age range as guided by clinical judgement of the professional service providers delivering the program. Researchers often highlight how SAS is equally effective irrespective of a child’s age (7-12) or IQ (average, mild and some moderate intellectual disability) within the samples of their study. Updates to the SAS Small Group resources overtime include more inclusive and accessible options and a Facilitator Flexomoter to guide best practice delivery when adapting for different developmental, learning or sensory profiles.
Conference Posters
Latest Release research posters from INSAR 2023 in Stockholm, INSAR 2024 in Melbourne, and St John of God Research Conference 2024 View Research Posters
References
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Albaum, C., Tablon, P., Roudbarani, F., & Weiss, J. A. (2019). Predictors and outcomes associated with therapeutic alliance in cognitive behaviour therapy for children with autism. Autism, 24(1), 211-220. https://doiorg.ezproxy.med.cornell.edu/10.1177/1362361319849985
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