Human-Animal Interactions, ADHD: Self-Esteem, Self-Regulation and Social Skills

注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是一种常见的复杂疾病，对儿童在学校和家庭功能以及正常的儿童社会化过程产生不利影响。令人惊讶的是，患有ADHD的儿童往往表现出自我调节能力差，自尊心和社会行为。虽然文献中充满了动物如何促进儿童身体和情感健康的例子，但缺乏研究人-动物相互作用（HAI）的良好对照，随机临床试验。许多研究人员和学者指出，虽然利用动物可能非常有吸引力，但患者喜欢与动物互动的事实并不能证明其作为治疗程序的有效性。在治疗，心理教育环境中进行HAI的对照研究可能有助于揭开其作为范例的神秘面纱，同时提供了第一步，以制定最佳实践指南，在一个良好的特征，行为障碍的儿童多动症，最常见的精神病儿童诊断人群。这项提案的目的是调查HAI在促进诊断为ADHD的学龄儿童的心理和情感健康方面的作用。目前诊断为ADHD的7至9岁儿童（N=108）将被招募到研究中，并将被随机分配到两种治疗条件之一：社交技能训练与HAI与幼犬（n=54），以及社交技能训练与HAI Sham与填充动物幼犬（n=54）。此外，这些组中大约相同数量的受试者将作为对照条件等待12周（n=54）。我们将在加州大学儿童发展中心的心理教育、治疗学校环境中研究6个队列的参与者，并将使用高度结构化的实验室学校方案测量结果，以标准化和收集基线时的课堂表现和注意力、举止和幸福感评分，并在12周后再次在6周后评估效果的潜在维持。这项研究将为未来调查HAI对ADHD和破坏性行为障碍儿童和青少年的影响奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common, complex disorder that adversely affects a child in school and family functioning and normal childhood socialization processes. It is striking that children with ADHD are often characterized by poor self-regulation, self-esteem, and social behaviors. Although the literature is filled with examples of how animals can promote human physical and emotional wellness in children, there is a lack of well-controlled, randomized clinical trials studying Human- Animal Interactions (HAI). Many researchers and scholars note that although the utilization of animals may be highly appealing, the fact that a patient enjoyed the interaction with an animal does not substantiate its efficacy as a therapeutic procedure. Conducting a controlled study of HAI in a therapeutic, psychoeducational setting may serve to demystify its use as a paradigm while providing a first step towards developing best practice guidelines within a well characterized, behaviorally disturbed population of children with ADHD, the most common psychiatric diagnosis of childhood. The goal of this proposal is to investigate the role of HAI in promoting mental and emotional well-being in school-aged children diagnosed with ADHD. Children between the ages of 7 to 9 years with a current diagnosis of ADHD (N=108) will be recruited into the study and will be randomized into one of two treatment conditions: Social Skills Training in combination with HAI with puppies (n=54), and Social Skills Training in combination with HAI Sham with stuffed animal puppies (n=54). In addition, approximately equal numbers of subjects from these groups will be wait listed for 12 weeks as a control condition (n=54). We will study participants in 6 cohorts in the psychoeducational, therapeutic school setting of the University of California, Child Development Center and will measure outcomes using the highly structured laboratory school protocol for standardization and collection of classroom performance and ratings of attention, deportment and well being at baseline, after the 12-week period, and again at 6 weeks later to assess potential maintenance of effects. This study will set the stage for future investigations on the effects of HAI in children and adolescents with ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders.