{"i":"Calm with horses?","#text":"A systematic review of animal-assisted interventions for improving social functioning in children with autism."}

This review looked at whether activities with live animals can help autistic children with social skills. They found 9 studies, mostly about horse riding therapy. The results showed some improvements in how children interacted with others after horse-based activities, and these benefits seemed to last for a while. However, the studies had some problems with how they were designed, so we can't be completely sure about the results yet.

More research is needed, especially with other animals like dogs and cats.

This systematic review examined the effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) for improving social functioning in children with autism. Nine studies were identified and analyzed for intervention effectiveness and methodological quality. Results showed improvements in social functioning following equine-assisted or therapeutic horse-riding interventions, with preliminary evidence suggesting these benefits may be sustained in short and medium term. However, methodological limitations were identified across studies, including lack of blinding of assessors and insufficient evidence for other animal types.

The authors concluded that while initial findings are promising for horse-based interventions, stronger research designs are needed, and more evidence is required for other animal-assisted interventions involving dogs, cats, and other species.

Equine-assisted interventions show promise for improving social functioning in autistic children, but methodological limitations prevent strong recommendations. Clinicians should consider horse-based therapies as potentially beneficial while awaiting higher-quality research. Evidence is currently insufficient to support other animal-assisted interventions for social functioning improvements.

Methodological issues limit confidence in findings, including lack of assessor blinding and awareness of group allocation. Limited number of studies (9 total) and insufficient evidence for non-equine animal interventions. Common design limitations across studies reduce strength of conclusions that can be drawn.

Children with autism typically experience difficulties interacting socially with others when compared to their non-autistic peers. Establishing how effective interventions are for improving social functioning is important to help inform what should be offered to children with autism. This study reviewed how effective interventions that involved interaction with a live animal, known as animal-assisted interventions, are in improving social functioning in children with autism. A systematic search of the evidence on this topic found nine studies, which were explored for the effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions and the quality of methods used.

Overall, these studies showed improvements in social functioning following equine-assisted or therapeutic horse-riding interventions, with initial evidence showing improvements are sustained in the short and medium term. However, several issues were identified, which limit the strength of any conclusions that can be drawn from this evidence. For example, in many studies people assessing the children were aware that they received the intervention or were in a control group. There was also not enough evidence available to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of other animal-assisted interventions.

Future research should address the limitations that were common in the designs of these studies and investigate the potential benefit of other animal populations, such as dogs and cats.