Acceptability and effects of acquiring an assistance or companion dog for families of children on the autism spectrum.

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 ass...

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Publicado en:Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 1687 - 1700
Autores principales: Guay, Claudia, Abouzeid, Nadia, Forget, Jacques, Boulé, Mélina
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd May2024
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: May2024
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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        atl: Acceptability and effects of acquiring an assistance or companion dog for families of children on the autism spectrum.
      aug:
        au:
          Guay, Claudia
          Abouzeid, Nadia
          Forget, Jacques
          Boulé, Mélina
        affil: Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
      sug:
        subj:
          Parents of Children with Disabilities Psychosocial Factors
          Family Psychosocial Factors
          Autism Spectrum Disorder Rehabilitation
          Pet Therapy Methods
          Dogs
          Service Animals
          Human-Pet Bonding
          Treatment Outcomes
          Parental Attitudes
          Support, Psychosocial
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Multimethod Studies
          Parents
          Questionnaires
          Semi-Structured Interview
          Descriptive Statistics
          Comparative Studies
          Sociodemographic Factors
          Quality of Life
          Pilot Studies
          Personal Satisfaction
          Unpaired T-Tests
          Analysis of Variance
          Male
          Female
      ab: 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. 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. 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. In brief, having an assistance dog constitutes a significant added value; nevertheless, both types of dogs are appreciated. 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.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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