https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8589-5071
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Abstract
Purpose
Assistance and companion dogs have numerous positive effects for family of autistic children, such as supporting their rehabilitation and improving their quality of life. To date, very few studies have compared the effects of both types of dogs. This comparison, considering the limited access to assistance dogs, could be helpful for families wanting to adopt a dog.
Methods
An explanatory sequential design with a mixed-method approach was used. First, 85 parents (nassistance dogs = 57; ncompanion dogs = 28) of children aged between 3 and 17 years old (M = 10.73, SD = 3.67) completed an online questionnaire including sociodemographic questions and the Treatment Acceptability Rating Form-Revised (TARF-R). Then, 17 of these participants (nassistance dogs = 14; ncompanion dogs = 3) completed a semi-structured interview.
Results
The quantitative data analyses showed that parents with assistance dogs were significantly more satisfied: t (83) = −2.12, p = .037, d = 0.49. Significant associations between some sociodemographic variables (e.g., number of children, comorbid condition, reasons for acquiring a dog) and acceptability/satisfaction (TARF-R total scores) were found. The qualitative analysis revealed that families with both dog types observed positive effects.
Conclusions
In brief, having an assistance dog constitutes a significant added value; nevertheless, both types of dogs are appreciated.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
Parents of children on the autism spectrum show significantly higher levels of satisfaction with having an assistance dog to assist the rehabilitation of their child on the autism spectrum when compared to a companion dog.
Assistance and companion dogs are both perceived as beneficial by parents and as an important source of support for the rehabilitation of children on the autism spectrum and other members of their family.
Companion dogs trained specifically to assist the rehabilitation of children on the autism spectrum should be offered to families in the context of limited access to assistance dogs.
Acknowledgements
We thank the parents who participated in this study for their implication, contribution and invaluable input. All parents were generous of their time and shared their experiences in-depth with the research team. We are truly grateful for everyone sharing their insight and personal stories, which has made this study relevant for the community.
Ethical approval
The Ethics Board of University of Quebec at Montreal for research involving human participants approved this study (Certificate number: 3511).
Author contributions
The first author conceived this study, recruited, coordinated the experiment, collected analysed, interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript as part of her doctoral dissertation. The second author developed this study with the first author, supervised the experiment, contributed to the interpretation of the results and revised the manuscript. The third author contributed to the conception of the study, the interpretation of the results and revised the manuscript. The fourth author contributed to the conception of the study, provided the training for content analysis, contributed to the interpretation of the results and revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to and approved the manuscript.
Consent form
Written (online questionnaire and semi-structured interview) and verbal (semi-structured interview) freely informed consent was obtained from parents to participate and to the agree with the submission of the manuscript in a published journal. Raw data will not be shared to respect confidentiality.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).