The presence of animals reduces the intensity of anxiety experienced by children with autism spectrum disorders in situations involving interaction with peers, reports the journal Developmental Psychobiology.
Children with autism spectrum disorders usually have great difficulty communicating and interacting with other people because they feel overwhelming anxiety in these situations. However, according to researchers from Purdue University (USA) and the University of Queensland (Australia), animals can help to overcome such limitations. Their presence increases autistic children’s sense of security and consequently alleviates anxiety.
The researchers invited 114 children aged between five and 12 years into the laboratory and divided them into groups of three so that each group consisted of one person with an autism spectrum disorder and two normally developing peers.
The children were fitted with armbands that allowed them to measure the skin-galvanic response, i.e. changes in electrical resistance that are an indicator of arousal due to emotions such as anxiety, fear or excitement.
In order to establish the baseline level of arousal, young subjects were asked to read a passage from a book silently. They were then instructed to read the text aloud in the presence of their peers. In the next stage of the experiment, toys were brought into the room and the children were allowed to play uninhibited for 10 minutes. Finally, two guinea pigs were allowed into the room and the toddlers were observed playing with the animals for another 10 minutes.
It turned out that children with autism spectrum disorders experienced higher psychological arousal (most likely anxiety) in all socially tinged situations (during silent and loud reading, as well as during play with peers). However, their arousal levels decreased rapidly in the presence of animals (guinea pigs). The opposite reactions occurred in normally developing children. Their arousal remained fairly low until animals were in the room – then it immediately increased.
The researchers explain that the presence of animals providing unconditional acceptance attenuated anxiety in autistic children because they felt safer. Other toddlers may have felt a sudden excitement at the sight of the pigs – hence the increase in arousal levels.
‘This study provides physiological evidence that proximity to animals alleviates the stress experienced by children with autism in social situations,’ concludes James Griffin of the National Institutes of Health – the institution funding this project.
Source
- https://www.medonet.pl/zdrowie/wiadomosci,zwierzeta-lagodza-lek-spoleczny-u-dzieci-z-autyzmem,artykul,1715029.html
