ArticleAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2023
Investigating Dog Welfare When Interacting with Autistic Children within Canine-Assisted Occupational Therapy Sessions: A Single Case Study.
Article in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Dog-ownership and paediatric neurodevelopmental disorders; 'pawsitive' impact: a systematic review.Pediatric research · 2026Pooled it
- Guidance for protocol content and reporting of dog-assisted interventions in randomised controlled trials: explanation and elaboration of the SPIRIT 2025 and CONSORT 2025 extensions.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Article
- Assessment of Behavioral Predispositions of Selected Chicken Breeds for Use in Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Pilot Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Canine-Assisted Speech Therapy for Children: Caregiver and Therapist Perspectives.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review on Salivary Oxytocin and Vasopressin Measurement in the Dog.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- How to Measure Human-Dog Interaction in Dog Assisted Interventions? A Scoping Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human-animal bond is defined as the mutually beneficial relationship between humans and animals. Recent years have seen increasing research regarding the benefits of interaction with animals for autistic children. However, there continue to be limited studies exploring the impact of this interaction on the welfare of therapy dogs. As part of a pilot randomised control trial assessing the efficacy of canine-assisted occupational therapy with autistic children, this project assessed welfare markers of the therapy dog involved. A total of twenty-one saliva samples were taken from the therapy dog to assess cortisol, alpha amylase, and oxytocin concentrations at home and throughout the treatment days. Additionally, six hours of therapy session videos were analysed for stress indicators of canine behaviour. No significant differences were found between days spent at home and treatment days for any of the biomarkers or stress indicators. Results suggest that the therapy dog involved did not experience increased stress resulting from interaction with the autistic children throughout the therapy sessions. This study supports the need for further research regarding therapy dog welfare when interacting with autistic children including an increased sample size of therapy dogs and therapists.
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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.