Dogs in Schools: Can Spending Time with Dogs Improve Executive Functioning in a Naturalistic Sample of Young Children?

Tepper, Deanna L.; Connell, Chantelle G.; Landry, Oriane; Bennett, Pauleen

doi:10.1080/08927936.2021.1898214

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In this category, we included studies with control conditions where subjects had contact with a live animal but where the degree of contact and interaction varied. For example, in one study, the animal in the control condition was only present (compared to training with the animal in the experimental condition) (Tepper et al, 2021 ), or some studies compared control conditions in which subjects interacted with an animal, such as by walking with a dog, to working with an animal in the experimental condition (Seivert, 2014 ). We found that 15 studies controlled for the presence, contact, or interaction with the animal as a non-specific factor.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the studies also controlled for specific elements of the interaction with the animal or the animal itself, for example, by defining the presence of an animal (Tepper et al, 2021 ) or simply walking with a dog (Syzmanski et al, 2018 ) as non-specific factors. One such study had a control group with an animal present during classroom activities and an experimental group where participants interacted with an animal to complete different tasks (Tepper et al, 2021 ). Another study defined walking with a dog as the control intervention, while the experimental intervention had participants train dogs to be more suitable for adoption (Syzmanski et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review

Wagner

Grob²,

Hediger³

2022

Front. Psychol.

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Research on animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) has increased massively in the last few years. But it is still not clear how AAIs work and how important the animal is in such interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to compile the existing state of knowledge about the working mechanisms of AAIs. We searched 12 major electronic databases for previous AAI studies with active control groups. Of 2001 records identified, we included 172 studies in the systematic review. We extracted previously published hypotheses about working mechanisms and factors that have been implicitly considered specific or non-specific in AAI research by categorizing control conditions using content analysis. We analyzed the categories using descriptive statistics. We found that 84% of the included studies mentioned a hypothesis of working mechanisms, but 16% did not define specific hypotheses. By analyzing their control conditions, we found that in most controlled studies, the animal or the interaction with the animal was implicitly considered as a specific factor for the effects of the AAI. Non-specific factors such as therapeutic aspects, social interactions, or novelty have also been controlled for. We conclude that AAI research still cannot answer the question of how and why AAIs work. To address this important research gap, we suggest using component studies with innovative control conditions and results from placebo research to address both the specific and non-specific, contextual factors of AAIs to disentangle its mechanisms.Systematic Review Registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=158103, identifier: CRD42020158103.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review

Wagner

Grob²,

Hediger³

2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…This supports previous research that found that horseback riding and equine-assisted therapy can improve self-regulatory behaviours, with a previous review suggesting improvements in hyperactivity, irritability, and task engagement in autistic children and adolescents [ 82 ]. The research on therapeutic programs incorporating a dog was less consistent; in one study, participants with a poorer baseline demonstrated significant improvements in EFs [ 79 ], while two studies found no significant differences [ 71 , 76 ]. Interestingly, most of the studies that reported improvements in EFs were longer-term programs, taking place over more than seven weeks [ 70 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 77 , 78 ], while a six-week program [ 72 ] and a four-week program [ 76 ] reported mixed and no significant findings, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Interacting with Animals Improve Executive Functions? A Systematic Review

Tepper,

Shnookal,

Howell

et al. 2023

Animals

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There has been growing interest in the potential benefits of using human–animal interactions to improve executive functions: cognitive processes that allow individuals to plan, solve problems, and self-regulate behaviour. To date, no comprehensive review has been conducted. The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing literature, adopting broad inclusion criteria. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 16 papers were identified from peer-reviewed literature. Additional papers were identified from grey literature, including 6 dissertations and 1 thesis. A review of these 23 studies found that human–animal interactions and executive functions are investigated in three main ways: (1) exploring the potential benefits of the human–pet relationship, (2) exploring the impact of an animal’s presence during administration of executive function tests, and (3) evaluating the efficacy of animal-assisted services (e.g., animal-assisted therapy) on executive functions. Five of the included studies reported a significant improvement across all measured domains of executive functions, but effect sizes were underreported. Comparatively, 9 studies reported mixed findings, d = 0.32–0.55, while 8 studies reported no significant results. The overall rigour of the research was limited, with great heterogeneity between the study methodologies and outcome measures used. It is recommended that future studies utilise high-quality research methodologies through the use of randomisation, pre- and postmeasures, and appropriate control conditions, where possible.

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Facility Dogs in Educational Programs for Young Children: Definition, Rationale, Issues, and Implementation

Jalongo

Permenter²,

Conrad³

2022

Early Childhood Educ J

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Dogs in Schools: Can Spending Time with Dogs Improve Executive Functioning in a Naturalistic Sample of Young Children?

Cited by 7 publications

References 48 publications

Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review

Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review

Can Interacting with Animals Improve Executive Functions? A Systematic Review

Facility Dogs in Educational Programs for Young Children: Definition, Rationale, Issues, and Implementation

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