SynthesisJournal of autism and developmental disorders2021
Animal-Assisted Interventions for School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dog-assisted interventions for children and adults with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions: systematic review.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of animal-assisted services for school-aged children: a systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Animal-Assisted Interventions for Neurodivergent Individuals: Advancing Research, Practice, and Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Pawsitive Impact: Measuring the Dog Mentor's Effect in Neurodivergent Students.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The effects of service dogs for children with autism spectrum disorder and their caregivers: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Occupational therapy incorporating dogs for autistic children and young people: Parent perspectives.The British journal of occupational therapy · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Research has indicated beneficial effects of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) for children with Autism. However, there is a dearth of meta-analyses and findings are often contradictory. The current meta-analysis assesses the effectiveness of AAIs on social interaction, communication and global Autism symptoms. A total of 1447 studies were returned, of which 16 (n = 489) met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analyses indicated small effect sizes related to improvements in social interaction and communication and reduction in Autism Spectrum Disorder symptoms. Additionally, there was little evidence for a relationship between dosage and effect size. In conclusion, AAIs appear to offer small improvements in social interaction and communication for children with Autism, which may be comparable to activities used in active control conditions.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.