enhancing self-determination and working memory in individuals with visual impairments: efficacy of social skills training

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of social skills training on enhancing self-determination and working memory in individuals with visual impairments.a randomized controlled trial design was used, involving 40 participants with visual impairments, randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20). the intervention group underwent ten 60-minute sessions of social skills training over four months, while the control group received no specific intervention. self-determination was assessed using the self-determination inventory: student report (sdi), and working memory was measured using the working memory questionnaire (wmq). data were collected at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and a four-month follow-up. analysis of variance (anova) with repeated measures and bonferroni post-hoc tests were conducted using spss version 27. participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in self-determination from pre-intervention (m = 45.25, sd = 6.34) to post-intervention (m = 58.43, sd = 5.27) and at the four-month follow-up (m = 55.37, sd = 5.82). similarly, working memory scores improved from pre-intervention (m = 39.18, sd = 7.24) to post-intervention (m = 51.22, sd = 6.05) and were maintained at follow-up (m = 48.76, sd = 6.50). the anova results indicated significant main effects for self-determination (f(2, 76) = 41.52, p < .001, η² = 0.53) and working memory (f(2, 76) = 38.19, p < .001, η² = 0.50), as well as significant time x group interaction effects (self-determination: f(2, 76) = 32.35, p < .001, η² = 0.46; working memory: f(2, 76) = 31.88, p < .001, η² = 0.45). the findings demonstrate that social skills training is significantly effective in enhancing self-determination and working memory in individuals with visual impairments. these improvements were sustained over a four-month follow-up period, suggesting the potential of such interventions to positively impact cognitive and social functioning in this population.