ArticleJournal of autism and developmental disorders2023
'They ask no questions and pass no criticism': A mixed-methods study exploring pet ownership in autism.
Article in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental Health Professionals' Experiences of Adapting Mental Health Interventions for Autistic Adults: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Pooled it
- Animal-Assisted Interventions for Neurodivergent Individuals: Advancing Research, Practice, and Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exploring Cat-Human Interaction as a Psychosocial Resource in Autism and ADHD: Risks, Engagement, and Well-Being.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Development of a Conceptual Model of Loneliness in Verbal Autistic Adults Using Qualitative Content Analyses.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Understanding the Relevance of Psychopathological Features in Pets-Owner Relationship: State of the Art and Future Directions - A Narrative Review.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Review
- The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- 'Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Available Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Old Strategies to New Options.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Gestalt of functioning in autism revisited: First revision of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Article
- Association of longitudinal pet ownership with wheezing in 3-year-old children using the distributed lag model: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Young adults' views on the mechanisms underpinning the impact of pets on symptoms of anxiety and depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Autistic people outperform neurotypicals in a cartoon version of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 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
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many autistic people cite a strong attachment to animals, and some studies suggest they may even show a bias towards animals over people. This mixed-methods study explored companion animal attachment in the adult autistic community. In a quantitative study with 735 people, we found that autistic adults were equally attached to their pets as neurotypicals but were less likely to own them, even though pet ownership corresponded with better mental health outcomes. Substituting pets for people also served as a compensatory mechanism for social contact in the autistic sample. In a second qualitative study, we explored the lived experiences of 16 autistic pet owners. The interpretive phenomenological analysis highlighted the benefits and the barriers to animal companionship. Together these mixed methods findings underline how pets improve the lives of their autistic owners. We conclude with specific recommendations for increasing animal companionship opportunities for autistic adults.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.