Simard Valérie, Aubry-Guzzi Marie-Aude, Chapleau Isabelle, Moënner Marina, François Nathe, Champagne Noël
Departement of Psychology, Université de Sherbrooke, 150 Place Charles-Le Moyne, Bureau 200, Longueuil, QC, J4K 0A8, Canada.
Charles-Le Moyne Research Center, Longueuil, QC, Canada.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2024 Sep 9. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06546-5.
This study aimed to investigate the changes in sleep quality and quantity among families following the arrival of an autism service dog. We hypothesized that the sleep of the child or adolescent with autism spectrum disorder (assessed objectively with actigraphy and subjectively with a parent-reported sleep diary), and of both parents (assessed by self-reported diaries) would improve after the dog's arrival. The sleep of 18 youths (15 boys) aged from 5 to 16 years (M = 8.86), and of their parents (14 mothers, 11 fathers) was assessed for a 5- to 7-day period before (pretest) and eight to ten weeks after the dog's arrival (posttest). A designated parent (the same at the pretest and posttest) completed the sleep diary of the child, who wore an actiwatch in the meantime. Significant improvement in most sleep parameters was observed from pretest to posttest for the child and the mother, as reported in the sleep diaries. However, there was no improvement in the child's sleep when assessed objectively. Fathers' sleep duration increased after the dog's arrival, when adjusting for the child's age. All significant effects had medium to large sizes. This study provides the first quantitative evidence of the positive effect of autism service dogs on the sleep of families. These findings suggest that the dog's presence may increase the sense of safety for the child, who would resume sleeping faster or stay in the bedroom after nocturnal awakenings, leading to improved parents' sleep.
本研究旨在调查自闭症服务犬到来后家庭中睡眠质量和数量的变化。我们假设，患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童或青少年（通过活动记录仪客观评估，通过家长报告的睡眠日记主观评估）以及父母双方（通过自我报告的日记评估）在狗狗到来后睡眠会得到改善。对18名年龄在5至16岁（平均年龄8.86岁）的青少年（15名男孩）及其父母（14名母亲，11名父亲）在狗狗到来前5至7天（预测试）和到来后八至十周（后测试）的睡眠情况进行了评估。一名指定的家长（预测试和后测试时相同）完成孩子的睡眠日记，与此同时孩子佩戴活动记录仪。如睡眠日记中所报告，从预测试到后测试，孩子和母亲的大多数睡眠参数都有显著改善。然而，客观评估时孩子的睡眠并无改善。在调整孩子年龄后，狗狗到来后父亲的睡眠时间增加。所有显著影响的效应大小为中等至较大。本研究首次提供了定量证据，证明自闭症服务犬对家庭睡眠有积极影响。这些发现表明，狗狗的存在可能会增加孩子的安全感，孩子会更快重新入睡或在夜间醒来后留在卧室，从而改善父母的睡眠。
