Physical Activity and Social Wellbeing Benefits for Children with Developmental Disabilities with their Family Dog

• In Event: 1-047 - Animal-Assisted Interventions for Special Populations

Integrative Statement

Introduction: In the United States about 1 in 6 children (approximately 15%) have a developmental disability. Known health disparities exist for individuals with developmental disabilities compared to those without. As children with developmental disabilities age, physical activity declines (Esposito et al., 2012; MacDonald et al., 2011), with a significant drop at 12 years of age (MacDonald et al., 2011). Thus, the need for programs that teach physically active behaviors and that promote social wellbeing are critical for this group of children. The Do As I Do (DAID) training intervention has the potential to significantly improve physical activity and social wellbeing in children with DD. The DAID training intervention is completed with the family dog, and involves activities that can be continued at home without added cost once learned. The purpose of this project was to test the effects of a novel imitation-based dog training intervention (DAID) on the physical activity and social wellbeing of children with developmental disabilities, using the family dog. We hypothesized that children participating in the DAID protocol would improve their physical and social wellbeing more than controls. Method: To date, 25 child participants and their family dogs were recruited to take part in this study. Participants were randomized into one of three groups, intervention (DAID), dog walking (control) or to a waitlisted control group. Primary assessments of physical activity and social wellbeing took place before, immediately after and one-year post intervention. Children randomized into the intervention (DAID) or dog walking group took part in a 10-day protocol for one hour each session. The DAID intervention consisted of 60 minute sessions where child-dog pairs trained 3- 6 behaviors using positive reinforcement training before learning how to transfer the stimulus control to the physical actions of the child (generalized imitation). Each child-dog pair progressed at a rate developmentally appropriate for the pair. The dog-walking control intervention consisted of learning to walk the dog on a loose leash and using positive behavior training techniques, the waitlisted control did not take part in an intervention and were waitlisted for the DAID intervention one-year following enrollment. Results: 25 participants were enrolled during year 1 of our 2-year project. All participants showed evidence of learning, including improved interactions with the dog and basic training skill development. To date, 3 out of 7 have successfully made it through the full DAID protocol achieving the generalized imitation phase. Children able to attend at least 9 of the 10 sessions were most likely to reach this goal. Benefits of participation were still evident in participants that only reached earlier stages of the training goals as well. Primary outcomes are still being analyzed, yet preliminary results suggest physical activity improvements immediately post-intervention in both the DAID and dog walking group. In addition, there were trends toward improvement in social wellbeing in the DAID group.

Authors

• Megan MacDonald, Oregon State University
  Presenting Author

• Monique Udell, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• John Schuna, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Duo Jiang, Oregon State University
  Non-Presenting Author