This study investigated if incorporating dogs into social skills training (SST) for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) would produce a greater effect on improving social skills, theory of mind, and feelings of inclusion than would be obtained from SST without an animal present. Common SST goals for children with ASD include increasing social motivation, play skills, conflict management strategies, social cognition (e.g., theory of mind, problem solving, and emotion regulation), and the understanding of emotions in one's self and others. While SST may be implemented individually or in groups, the group format has the advantage of promoting interaction with other children and providing opportunities to use newly-learned skills in a more natural setting.
This study compared the effects of SST on two different treatment groups: one – the experimental group -- incorporated therapy dogs; the other – the control group – did not have an animal present. A total of 31 students with ASD participated in this study: 17 in the experimental group; 14 in the control group. Group assignments were based on scheduling concerns. Both groups used the same SST curriculum, were conducted by the same therapists, and took place in the same location. Children in the experimental group and the control group were similar in terms of age, IQ, and severity of ASD.
Graduate students in psychology, blind to participants' assigned interventions, completed individual assessments of the participants both before and after the 12-week SST program. The assessments addressed depressive symptoms, social skills, and theory of mind ability (i.e., the ability to infer the mental state of others and oneself and to understand that the mental state of others may differ from own's own). Following the SST intervention, the participants' classroom teachers (who were not informed of group assignments) completed a rating scale of social behaviors associated with ASD symptoms.
Teacher ratings showed that students who participated in the animal-assisted social skills intervention exhibited fewer social skill deficits overall, fewer restricted and repetitive behaviors, and more typical social communication following the intervention than students in the program without dogs. The difference between the teacher ratings of the two groups was significant. Also significant were differences in self-report ratings of interpersonal problems. While both groups reported significant decreases in depressive symptoms following the intervention, students in the program with dogs rated themselves as having significantly fewer symptoms than those in the control group.
This research suggests that incorporating dogs into SST programs may significantly decrease both social skill deficits and symptoms of depression, including feelings of isolation and ineffectiveness in social interactions. These positive effects may be due to the influence of dogs on participants' affective or emotional states. In other words, the dogs may have been a reinforcing or motivating factor in encouraging children to socially interact with others. Anecdotal observations of the therapists support the idea of the dogs motivating students to be more socially interactive.
This study provides preliminary support for incorporating dogs in social skills training for children with ASD. It also provides some support for including socially motivating experiences into ASD treatments.
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