Psychology Division, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, LN1 3DY, UK.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Jul;51(7):2436-2449. doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04715-w.
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.
研究表明，动物辅助干预（AAI）对自闭症儿童有益。然而，目前缺乏荟萃分析，研究结果往往相互矛盾。本荟萃分析评估了 AAI 对社会互动、沟通和自闭症总体症状的有效性。共返回了 1447 项研究，其中 16 项（n=489）符合纳入标准。荟萃分析表明，社会互动和沟通的改善以及自闭症谱系障碍症状的减轻与小的效应量相关。此外，剂量与效应量之间的关系几乎没有证据支持。总之，AAI 似乎可以为自闭症儿童的社会互动和沟通提供较小的改善，这可能与积极对照条件下使用的活动相当。
