The Impact of a Horse Riding Intervention on the Social Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Harris, Androulla; Williams, Joanne

doi:10.3390/ijerph14070776

Cited by 57 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Additionally, the THR group had significant improvements at 0.1 level on the ABC-C (17) Irritability subscale ( p = 0.08) and SRS (18) Social Communication subscale ( p = 0.08). The replication of finding for hyperactivity but not the irritability subscale on the ABC-C matches up with another small scale study of the effect of THR for children with ASD (19), indicating that THR may have a stronger effect on hyperactivity than on irritability behaviors. There were no significant improvements in the number of words or new words spoken on the SALT (39) standard language sample.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Compared to participants in a barn activity (BA) control group, participants in a 10-week THR intervention made significant improvements in symptoms of irritability and hyperactivity as measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) (17), improvements in core symptoms of autism (e.g., social cognition and social communication) measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) (18), and word fluency (e.g., total number of words and new words spoken) measured by a standardized language sample (1). A more recent study of THR replicated use of the ABC-C (17) to measure outcomes in a sample of 26 children with ASD (19). This study found that children participating in five to seven 45-minute weekly riding lessons compared to a control group receiving treatment as usual, improved on the ABC-C (17) Hyperactivity scale, but not on the Irritability scale (19).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…A more recent study of THR replicated use of the ABC-C (17) to measure outcomes in a sample of 26 children with ASD (19). This study found that children participating in five to seven 45-minute weekly riding lessons compared to a control group receiving treatment as usual, improved on the ABC-C (17) Hyperactivity scale, but not on the Irritability scale (19). It is promising that Harris and Williams (19) attempted to replicate the irritability and hyperactivity outcomes previously observed by Gabriels et al (1); however, the advancement of the AAI field requires more methodological standardization and replication of methods to confirm the efficacy of THR on outcomes in children with ASD (15, 16, 20, 21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Replication Pilot Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Cortisol Collection With Children on the Autism Spectrum

et al. 2019

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We aimed to determine whether results of our prior randomized control trial [RCT; NCT02301195, (1)] of Therapeutic Horseback Riding (THR) for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could be replicated at a different riding center and if treatment effects also included differences in the expression of associations between problem behavior and the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Participants with ASD (N = 16) ages 6-16 years were randomized by nonverbal intelligence quotient to either a 10-week THR group (n = 8) or no horse interaction barn activity (BA) control group (n = 8). Outcome measures were a standard speech-language sample and caregiver-report of aberrant and social behaviors. Participants' saliva was sampled weekly at a consistent afternoon time immediately pre- and 20 min' post-condition (later assayed for cortisol). Intent-to-treat analysis revealed that compared to controls, THR participants had significant improvements in hyperactivity, and social awareness, and significant improvements at the 0.1 significance level in irritability and social communication behaviors. There were no significant improvements in number of words or new words spoken during the standard language sample. Linear mixed effects model analysis indicated that greater weekly pre-lesson irritability levels were associated with smaller post-lesson reduction in salivary cortisol levels, and greater weekly pre-lesson hyperactivity levels were associated with smaller cortisol reduction in the THR group, but not in the BA control group. The findings represent a partial replication of prior results (1), extend prior observations to include THR effects on biobehavioral relationships and suggest that cortisol could be a target mediator for THR effects on irritability and hyperactivity behaviors in youth with ASD.Clinical Trial Registration: Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder; http://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT02301195

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Replication Pilot Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Cortisol Collection With Children on the Autism Spectrum

et al. 2019

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“…However, despite the increasingly growing body of motor research conducted in ASD, no particular motor symptomatology is uniquely identified as ASD [83]. Nonetheless, several researchers have put forth predictions for the utility and impact of motor assessments for diagnostics and/or outcome measurements in ASD [84,85,86,87,88]. Motor assessments utilized as a diagnostic tool would be ideal since motor dysfunctions are persistent across development [89,90,91,92] and consist of quantifiable metrics that can more easily be detected and measured than social impairments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Functional and Structural Neurobiology of the Action Observation Network in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder

2019

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Recent research has reported motor impairment similarities between children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and a subgroup of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a debate as to whether DCD is a co-occurring diagnosis in individuals with ASD and motor impairments (ASDd), or if motor impairments in ASD are distinct from DCD. However, the etiology of motor impairments is not well understood in either disorder. Clarifying comorbidities in ASD is important to determine different etiopathological phenotyping clusters in ASD and to understand the variety of genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the disorder. Furthermore, this distinction has important therapeutic relevance. Here we explore the current neuroimaging findings in ASD and DCD and discusses possible neural mechanisms that underlie similarities and differences between the disorders.

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“…There were no significant changes in the level of sleepiness, irritability, stereotype and inappropriate speech of participants after the intervention period. (Harris and Williams, 2017).…”

Section: Introduction and Purposementioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies in relation to mental illness and mental disorders - a review

Bator

Jańczyk

Samek

et al. 2020

J Educ Health Sport

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Introduction and purpose: the Terminology Guidelines of the American Hippotherapy Association defines Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies (EAA/T) as a collection of different forms of contact between man and horse. EAA/T have become increasingly common interventions in the last decade, demonstrating therapeutic benefits in various areas of mental health. The aim of this report is to identify the forms and programmes of EAA/T that are used and to summarise and assess the latest available evidences of their clinical effectiveness in the treatment of symptoms of mental illness and disorders such as autism spectrum disorders,

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The Impact of a Horse Riding Intervention on the Social Functioning of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cited by 57 publications

References 54 publications

Replication Pilot Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Cortisol Collection With Children on the Autism Spectrum

Replication Pilot Trial of Therapeutic Horseback Riding and Cortisol Collection With Children on the Autism Spectrum

A Review of Functional and Structural Neurobiology of the Action Observation Network in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Coordination Disorder

Effectiveness of Equine Assisted Activities or Therapies in relation to mental illness and mental disorders - a review

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