Animal-assisted Resilience Training for Children With Stressful Life Events or Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Trial

— AART  

Official title:

Effects of an Animal-assisted Resilience Training for Children With a History of Stressful Life Events or a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06025539
• Other study ID #: Resilience training
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: August 10, 2021
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2025

Study information

• Verified date: March 2024
• Source: University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland
• Contact: Karin Hediger, Prof. Dr.
• Phone: ?+41 79 519 78 85?
• Email: karin.hediger[@]unibas.ch
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about the effects of an animal-assisted resilience training in children who experienced stressful life events or who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Is an animal-assisted resilience training a feasible approach to increase resilience in children with a history of stressful life events or a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder?

Participants will take part in 12 training sessions of a standardized resilience training. The training is group-based, takes place outdoors, and includes interactions with different animals. It focuses on self-esteem, self-perception, dealing with emotions, and social competence.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 35
• Est. completion date: May 31, 2025
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 2 Years to 12 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 2 and 4 years (toddler group) or 8 and 12 years (children group)

• History of at least one stressful life event experience OR diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder

• Basic knowledge of either German or English of parents and child to follow the instructions during the training sessions and completion of interviews.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medical contraindications for contact with animals, such as allergies or phobia

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Autistic Disorder
• Child Development Disorders, Pervasive
• Life Change Events

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Animal-assisted resilience training
Participants take part in 12 sessions (120 minutes each), each session focuses on a topic that is related to resilience. The intervention takes part outdoors on a farm, and includes interactions with several different animals. The training takes place in small groups, and includes exercises, observations, and discussions.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Switzerland	University of Basel	Basel

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Switzerland, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Questionnaire on resources in childhood and adolescence	Pre-to-post assessment changes in resilience	18 weeks
Secondary	Questionnaire to assess emotion regulation in children and adolescents	Pre-to-post assessment changes in emotion regulation	18 weeks
Secondary	Number of attended sessions	Number of attended sessions over the course of the training	12 weeks
Secondary	Feeling secure and motivation to participate as measured on a 0-10 scale	Motivation and feeling secure as measured at the beginning and end of each session	12 weeks
Secondary	Intervention satisfaction as assessed in semi-structured interview	Satisfaction with program content and structure, as measured by qualitative interview	18 weeks (follow-up)
Secondary	Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)	Pre-to-post assessment changes in peer-relationship problems and prosocial behavior measures	18 weeks