Comparison Between a Live Canine or Toy Dog on Prosocial Behavior and Emotional Regulation in Autistic Children
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT06915415. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
The Effect of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Prosocial Behavior and Emotional Regulation in Autistic Children: Comparison Between a Live Canine and a Toy Canine
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
This study investigated the human-animal interaction (HAI) and bond (HAB) between a canine trained in therapy techniques or a canine plush toy and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during animal-assisted therapy (AAT) sessions. The purpose of this study is to explore identified gaps in knowledge pertaining to AAT in pediatric ASD care management by documenting human interaction between either a live canine or the plush toy canine during AAT sessions and evaluating prosocial behaviors observed during and after AAT sessions. This study addressed the following research questions: 1. How do children with autism ages 2 to 18 years interact with a live canine during AAT sessions? 2. How do children with autism ages 2 to 18 years interact with a toy plush dog during AAT sessions? 3. Is there a difference in HAI in the live canine group and the toy plush dog group? 4. Is there a difference in prosocial behavior observed during AAT sessions between the live canine group and the toy plush dog group? 5. Is there a difference in behavior after AAT sessions between the live canine group and the toy plush dog group? Participants were randomly assigned to either the live canine or toy plush dog group. Adaptive functioning and social responsiveness evaluations were obtained to compare baseline behavior between the two groups. Participants attended an AAT session once weekly for 6 to 8 weeks. Each group received the same therapy provided by the therapist; the only difference being the incorporation of a live canine during the therapy session. Caregivers completed a weekly assessment depicting participants' positive and negative affect at the beginning of each session. Caregivers also completed a monthly assessment noting strengths and difficulties in social functioning and behavior at the start of the first, middle, and final session. AAT sessions were recorded and behavior occurring during the sessions was coded to note HAI and HAB that occurred during the sessions.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT06915415
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 9 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 3 Years to 21 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Sep 30, 2023
- Primary completion
- Aug 4, 2024
- Completion
- Dec 30, 2024
- Last update posted
- Apr 7, 2025
2023 – 2024
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Arkansas | Fayetteville | Arkansas | 72701 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT06915415, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Apr 7, 2025 · Synced Sep 5, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT06915415 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.