Written by Joyce Smith, BS. Study suggests that dogs provide a significant calming and therapeutic effect on children with ADHD.
ADHD is a chronic health condition marked by persistent inattention, hyperactivity, and sometimes impulsivity. ADHD begins in childhood and often lasts into adulthood. As many as two out of every three children with ADHD continue to have symptoms as adults. While treatment with stimulant medications has been shown to reduce symptoms 1, results of long-term treatments have not yet been established. Children with ADHD often lack the ability to self-regulate and frequently miss social cues. They often experience peer rejection related to poor frustration tolerance, impatience with peers, anger management, and difficulties accepting consequences 2.
Successful nonpharmacological therapies include cognitive-behavioral strategies and social skills training 3. While ADHD is commonly recognized as a disorder with deficits in attention and behavior regulation, ADHD may also involve motivation deficits due to insufficient levels of catecholamines (neurotransmitters such as epinephrine and dopamine)3. These deficits can lead to poor regulation of executive function, attention, and emotion 4.
A growing body of evidence indicates that the opportunity to interact with therapy animals can help motivate individuals to comply with the therapeutic process by productively engaging with their therapist, retaining their motivation to participate in therapy overtime and displaying empathy 5. Since social skills are typically underdeveloped in children with ADHD, providing them an opportunity to interact with therapeutically trained dogs might stimulate an emotional response and activate attentional networks during cognitive-behavioral interventions, and increase learning. Thus, therapy animals could function as catalysts for social learning.
In a 2015 on-going randomized clinical study, Schuck and colleagues 6 hypothesized that both canine (CAI)-and non-canine (non-CAI) -assisted therapies would improve social skills and reduce problematic behaviors, but that treatment results would be greater for children in the canine-assisted group. Twenty-four participating children with ADHD were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of a cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) with dogs (CAI) or a CBGT that utilized toy dogs (realistic puppets) in lieu of live dogs (non-CAI). Parents of children in both groups simultaneously participated in weekly parent-group therapy sessions.
The intervention sessions occurred twice per week and included a social skills curriculum, parental training sessions, medication and structured activities such as having the children read short stories to the dogs as well as other training exercises. Parental reports of their children’s problem behaviors, social skills, and prosocial orientation were assessed prior to starting treatment and throughout the course of the study. Immediate and six weeks post-intervention assessments were also conducted with both the parents and children. The preliminary results revealed that across both treatment groups, there was an overall reduction in ADHD symptoms. Those who participated in CBGT with live therapy dogs displayed a more significant improvement in social skills and prosocial behavior as well as a reduction in problematic behaviors when compared to those in the therapy group that incorporated puppets. The researchers suggested that the live animals, as opposed to the puppets, acted as a novel stimulus, which primed the children for the therapy sessions and supported them in maintaining attention and refocusing on the task at hand. The use of therapy dogs may be an effective form of therapy in that they provide a significant calming and therapeutic effect on children with ADHD.
Source: Schuck, Sabrina EB, Natasha A. Emmerson, Aubrey H. Fine, and Kimberley D. Lakes. “Canine-assisted therapy for children with ADHD: preliminary findings from the positive assertive cooperative kids study.” Journal of attention disorders 19, no. 2 (2015): 125-137.
Posted March 3, 2020.
Joyce Smith, BS, is a degreed laboratory technologist. She received her bachelor of arts with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan and her internship through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently resides in Bloomingdale, IL.
References:
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- Hoza B, Mrug S, Gerdes AC, et al. What aspects of peer relationships are impaired in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. 2005;73(3):411.
- Storebø OJ, Andersen ME, Skoog M, et al. Social skills training for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children aged 5 to 18 years. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2019(6).
- White LK, Helfinstein SM, Reeb-Sutherland BC, Degnan KA, Fox NA. Role of attention in the regulation of fear and anxiety. Developmental Neuroscience. 2009;31(4):309-317.
- Fine A. Animals and Therapists: Incorporating Animals into Psychotherapy: Guidelines and Suggestions for Therapists: Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy. 2010.
- Schuck SE, Emmerson NA, Fine AH, Lakes KD. Canine-assisted therapy for children with ADHD: preliminary findings from the positive assertive cooperative kids study. Journal of attention disorders. 2015;19(2):125-137.
