School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK.
Sci Rep. 2021 Dec 8;11(1):23655. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-02504-8.
Mental health problems and suicide are more frequent in autistic adults than general population. Dog ownership can improve human well-being. This study aimed to generate a framework of well-being outcomes for dog-related activities in autistic adults and compare it to the framework generated for a general adult population. Thirty-six autistic dog owners (18-74 years old, 18 males) from diverse UK regions were interviewed and transcripts thematically analysed. 16.7% reported that their dogs prevented them from taking their own lives, mainly due to the dog's affection and the need to care for the animal. Close dog-owner interactions (e.g., cuddling, walking, dog's presence) were the most frequent activities improving emotions/moods and life functioning, whereas routine-like activities (e.g., feeding the animal) particularly enhanced life functioning. Well-being worsening was mainly linked to dog behaviour problems, dog poor health/death and obligations to the dog. Despite some negatives associated with ownership, having a dog could improve the well-being of many autistic adults and assist suicide prevention strategies in this high-risk group. The framework was consistent with that generated previously, indicating its robustness and the potential opportunity to focus on dog-related activities rather than the vague concept of "ownership" when considering the impact of ownership on well-being.
心理健康问题和自杀在自闭症成年人中比一般人群更为常见。养狗可以提高人类的幸福感。本研究旨在为自闭症成年人的与狗相关活动的幸福感结果生成一个框架，并将其与为一般成年人人口生成的框架进行比较。来自英国不同地区的 36 名自闭症犬主人（18-74 岁，18 名男性）接受了采访，并对转录本进行了主题分析。16.7%的人报告说他们的狗阻止他们自杀，主要是因为狗的感情和照顾动物的需要。与狗的亲密互动（例如，拥抱、散步、狗的存在）是改善情绪/情绪和生活功能最频繁的活动，而例行活动（例如，喂养动物）则特别增强了生活功能。幸福感恶化主要与狗的行为问题、狗的健康状况/死亡和对狗的义务有关。尽管养狗存在一些负面影响，但对于许多自闭症成年人来说，养狗可以提高他们的幸福感，并有助于在这个高风险群体中预防自杀。该框架与之前生成的框架一致，表明其稳健性，以及在考虑所有权对幸福感的影响时，有机会关注与狗相关的活动，而不是模糊的“所有权”概念。
