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Animal companions reduce social anxiety in children with ASD
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Social anxiety, as measured by skin conductance responses, decreased in children with autism spectrum disorder when animals were present, according to a recent study.
“This study provides physiological evidence that the proximity of animals eases the stress that children with autism may experience in social situations,” James Griffin, PhD, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in a press release.
Marguerite E. O’Haire, PhD, from the department of comparative pathobiology at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, and colleagues assessed social apprehension in 114 children, aged 5 to 12 years, with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The researchers divided participants into groups of three, with a 1:2 ratio of participants with ASD to those without ASD. Participants wore wireless wristbands with sensors that researchers used to detect physiological arousal identified by electric charge and eccrine sweat gland activity.
During school, participants were asked to read silently for 5 minutes while researchers measured baseline physiological data. Next, participants read aloud to the group. Those unable to read performed a stressor coloring task. After 10 minutes of free time for playing with toys, two guinea pigs were presented, and participants had 10 minutes of supervised interaction with them. Physiological arousal was continuously gauged during all activities.
Abrupt skin conductance responses representing increased social apprehension were lowest when children with ASD were with the animals vs. when they were playing with toys and reading (P < .001). A post-hoc analysis yielded similar results with medium to large effects and demonstrated that skin conductance responses per minute decreased by 43% when children with ASD were with the animals.
In addition, participants’ with ASD self-reported they felt best when they were spending time with animals vs. participating in other activities (P < .001). After time with the animals, participants felt best when they were playing with toys, reading silently and reading aloud.
Skin conductance per minute and overall skin conductance rates demonstrated that participants with ASD were more physiologically aroused while playing with toys (P < .001, for both), reading aloud (P = .005; P = .008) and reading silently (P < .001; P = .003), compared with their peers. However in the presence of animals, physiological arousal decreased for skin conductance per minute (P = .007) and overall skin conductance (P = .049) whereas arousal increased, likely from excitement, in participants without ASD.
“The present findings suggest that this is a worthwhile avenue for ongoing study and they contribute to a growing body of literature suggesting that animals may function as effective social buffers for individuals with ASD,” O’Haire and colleagues concluded. – by Stephanie Viguers
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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