Shelter Cat Adoption in Families of Children With Autism (Feline Friends)

Anxiety Clinical Trial

Official title:

Shelter Cat Adoption in Families of Children With Autism: Impact on Cat Stress and Children's Social Skills and Anxiety ("Feline Friends")

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03625297
• Other study ID #: 2008460
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 23, 2017
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: October 2020
• Source: University of Missouri-Columbia
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the introduction of a shelter cat into the family of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder on the social skills and anxiety of the child, and to examine stress in the cat.

Description:

Many families in the United States live with cats as companion animals, including families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One in 68 children are diagnosed with ASD. There is no cure for ASD, and no one treatment works for all children. Symptoms of ASD include a lack of social skills and anxiety. Companion animals have been helpful for children with ASD. However, no one has studied stress of cats living in families of children with ASD. This study will place 64 pre-screened shelter cats in pre-screened homes and monitor the stress of the cats. Cats ages 10 months to four years that have been screened for calm behavior using a temperament, test will be adopted by families in the study. Families will also be screened for pet issues. No cat will be placed in a home with a child who has a history of aggression to animals. The study will also examine the social skills and anxiety of the children with ASD, and bonding of the parents and children with their cats. Five to eight million dogs and cats are relinquished to animal shelters in the United States each year. Thirty-eight percent of cats are given up for behavioral reasons. Studying cat stress and the placement of cats, with calm and non-aggressive characteristics into homes of families of children with ASD may help shed light on the likely success of the relationships between shelter cats and these families.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 11
• Est. completion date: October 1, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: October 1, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 6 Years to 17 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• child with diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder

• no cat currently living with the family

• willingness to adopt a shelter cat

• English speaking

• live within 125 miles of Columbia, Missouri

Exclusion Criteria:

• child with Autism Spectrum Disorder having any history of animal aggression

• children with cat allergies

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Anxiety
• Anxiety Disorders
• Social Skills

Intervention

Other:
• shelter cat
families will adopt a shelter cat

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Missouri	Columbia	Missouri

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Missouri-Columbia	Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), Winn Feline Foundation

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Change in Social Skills of child with autism over time from baseline to 6, to 12 and to 18 weeks	Social skills measured using the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale (SSiS-RS) with scores from 0-138.	Control: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks
Primary	Change in Anxiety of child with autism over time from baseline to 6, to 12 and to 18 weeks	Anxiety measured using the Screen for Child Related Anxiety Disorders (SCARED) with scores from 0-82.	Control: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks
Secondary	change in parent Human-animal Bonding over time from 2-3 days, to 6, to 12 and 18 weeks	bonding of parent and cat using Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale with scores from 0-54.	Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 2-3 days, 6, 12 and 18 weeks
Secondary	change in child Human-animal Bonding over time from 2-3 days, to 6, to 12 and 18 weeks	bonding of child with autism and cat using the Companion Animal Bonding Scale with scores from 8-40	Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 2-3 days, 6, 12 and 18 weeks