Petzey Joins with HABRI to Champion the Human-Animal Bond

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) today announced funding for a new research project that will examine how different human-equine interactions affect physiological indicators of self-regulation in autistic youth. The grant was awarded to a team of researchers led by Dr. B. Caitlin Peters, Director of Research at the Temple Grandin Equine Center at Colorado State University, and Dr. Robin Gabriels, Professor at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. Autistic youth can experience impaired self-regulation, defined as the ability to monitor, evaluate, and modify one’s emotions and behavior. There are over a dozen distinct equine-assisted services (EASs), including a variety of therapy and educational programs integrating horses to improve health and wellbeing for autistic youth. One specific intervention, therapeutic horseback riding (THR), has been demonstrated to improve social abilities and self-regulation in autistic youth. However, there is a knowledge gap about the differential effects of mounted compared to unmounted human-equine interactions on autistic youth. The objective of the proposed study is to quantify the immediate effects of mounted and unmounted human-equine interactions on physiological and behavioral indicators of self-regulation in autistic youth. “Previously, autistic youth who have been unwilling or unable to ride a horse have been excluded from equine-assisted services studies,” said Dr. B. Caitlin Peters, the Principal Investigator of this study. “This new research aims to inform the development of a completely unmounted intervention protocol, which would enable more autistic youth to access equine-assisted services and benefit from these interventions.” This study will be the first study to randomly assign autistic youth to mounted vs unmounted human-equine interactions. Twenty-four autistic youth between the ages of 6 and 16 will be randomized to undergo three interventions including horseback...

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) today announced the results of a new study published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing titled, “Exploratory study of cat adoption in families of children with autism: Impact on children’s social skills and anxiety,” demonstrating that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience increases in empathy and decreases in problem behaviors after adoption of a shelter cat into their families. “Our study found that children with ASD experienced significant increases in the social skill of empathy, significant decreases in problem behaviors including bullying and hyperactivity/inattention, and also less separation anxiety after the introduction of a shelter cat,” said Gretchen Carlisle, PhD, MEd, RN, research scientist at the University of Missouri Research Center for Human Animal Interaction (ReCHAI). “Previous research has focused on interactions of dogs with children who have ASD, but dogs may not provide the best fit for all children and their families, especially given the hypersensitivities to sound that are common among children with ASD,” Carlisle said. “We hope the results of this study will help encourage more families to consider the possibility of cat ownership and help more shelter cats find loving, deserving homes.” “For the first time, we have scientific research that shows how beneficial cats can be for families of children with ASD,” said Steven Feldman, President of HABRI, the primary funder of the study. “Selecting a suitable family pet is an important decision. Families with a child with ASD now have more information and more choices, and we hope that this will also help more shelter cats find good homes.” Findings of the Feline Friends study, led by researchers at the University of Missouri, demonstrated that children with an adopted shelter cat had better empathy and less separation anxiety, as well as fewer problem behaviors exhibited by less externalizing, bullying...

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) has announced funding for a new research project led by the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine to evaluate the effects of service dogs on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their caregivers. The two-year grant from HABRI will enable the research team to conduct a study quantifying the therapeutic effects of service dogs on children with ASD and their caregivers in collaboration with service dog provider Canine Companions for Independence. “While anecdotal evidence suggests service dogs may benefit children with ASD, there is a need for published data on this subject,” said the study’s Principal Investigator, Marguerite O’Haire, PhD, Associate Professor of Human-Animal Interaction, who is part of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. “As the largest and most extensive study on service dogs for children with ASD and their caregivers to date, we expect the findings to provide critically-needed outcomes for this increasingly prevalent application of the human-animal bond.” The study, called the Purdue Canines for Autism Research Study, or Purdue CARES, will compare up to 50 families engaging in usual care that have an ASD service dog with up to 50 families engaging in usual care while on the waitlist to receive a service dog. Participation will include caregivers completing a 30-60 minute online survey and facilitating three mornings of saliva collection with the child to measure cortisol, a stress hormone. O’Haire and Purdue co-investigators Kerri Rodriguez, Dr. Mandy Rispoli and Dr. Bridgette Kelleher along with Dr. Evan MacLean of the University of Arizona will conduct the study, which focuses on children diagnosed with autism who range from ages 4-17. The researchers will compare the symptoms of children who currently have service dogs in the home and those who are on a waiting list for a service dog. They also will assess participants’ cortisol levels, a...