Department of Psychology, Edge Hill University, L39 4QP, Liverpool, UK.
Università Iuav di Venezia, 30135, Venezia, VE, Italy.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2023 Aug;53(8):3280-3294. doi: 10.1007/s10803-022-05622-y. Epub 2022 Jun 9.
Many autistic people cite a strong attachment to animals, and some studies suggest they may even show a bias towards animals over people. This mixed-methods study explored companion animal attachment in the adult autistic community. In a quantitative study with 735 people, we found that autistic adults were equally attached to their pets as neurotypicals but were less likely to own them, even though pet ownership corresponded with better mental health outcomes. Substituting pets for people also served as a compensatory mechanism for social contact in the autistic sample. In a second qualitative study, we explored the lived experiences of 16 autistic pet owners. The interpretive phenomenological analysis highlighted the benefits and the barriers to animal companionship. Together these mixed methods findings underline how pets improve the lives of their autistic owners. We conclude with specific recommendations for increasing animal companionship opportunities for autistic adults.
许多自闭症患者表示对动物有强烈的依恋，一些研究甚至表明，他们可能对动物比对人更有偏见。这项混合方法研究探索了成年自闭症群体中对伴侣动物的依恋。在一项针对 735 人的定量研究中，我们发现自闭症成年人对宠物的依恋与神经典型成年人一样强烈，但拥有宠物的可能性较小，尽管宠物拥有与更好的心理健康结果相对应。在自闭症样本中，用宠物代替人也可以作为社交接触的补偿机制。在第二项定性研究中，我们探讨了 16 名自闭症宠物主人的生活经历。解释性现象学分析强调了动物陪伴的好处和障碍。这些混合方法的研究结果共同强调了宠物如何改善他们的自闭症主人的生活。最后，我们为增加自闭症成年人与动物陪伴的机会提出了具体建议。
