Effects of Therapeutic Horseback Riding on Children and Adolescents with Autism S

骑马治疗对自闭症儿童和青少年的影响

• 批准号: 7993477
• 负责人: ROBIN L GABRIELS
• 金额: $ 30.56万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-15 至 2014-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7993477
• 关键词: Adaptive Behaviors; Address; Adolescent; Age; Animals; Area; Asperger Syndrome; Attention; Autistic Disorder; Behavior; Behavioral; Blinded; Caregivers; Child; Clinical; Collaborations; Communication; Communities; Control Groups; Diagnosis; Educational Curriculum; Environment; Equus caballus; Ethics; Evaluation; Family; Goals; Home environment; Hour; Human; Hyperactive behavior; Individual; Industry; Informal Social Control; Intervention; Interview; Language; Lead; Life; Measures; Motivation; Motor; Motor Skills; Occupational Therapist; Outcome; Parents; Participant; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Pilot Projects; Population; Process; Publishing; Quality of life; Randomized; Reporting; Research Project Grants; Safety; Sampling; Schools; Site; Socialization; Speech Therapist; Symptoms; Testing; Therapeutic; Therapeutic Effect; Time; Transcript; Vocabulary Test; alternative treatment; autism spectrum disorder; base; design; evidence base; high standard; post intervention; public health relevance; research study; sensory integration; social; teacher

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Therapeutic horseback riding (THR) is frequently sought out as an alternative treatment to address the behavioral disturbances that often impair the quality of daily life for individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, there are only a few published evidence-based THR studies to guide clinicians and consumers. This study aims to expand on our pilot study findings of significant improvements in self-regulation, communication, and motor skills for ASD participants involved in 10-weeks of therapeutic horseback riding compared to a 10-week waitlist control group. This proposed study will attempt to replicate these pilot findings as well as the social motivation findings from a recent THR study by examining a larger sample and using a randomized control design. Furthermore, it will test whether the human-animal interaction is necessary for the significant changes observed in the pilot study. This question will be examined by comparing ASD participants' involvement in 10 hours of weekly therapeutic horseback riding (n = 40) to a barn activity control group (n = 40) that targets the same therapeutic goals and controls for time and attention effects, but has no human-animal interaction. Pre-and post intervention evaluations will assess participants' self-regulation, communication, socialization, and motor functioning. A secondary aim of the study is to determine if improvements made as a result of involvement in 10-weeks of therapeutic horseback riding persist approximately six months beyond the THR intervention. The strengths of this research project include the use of a randomized controlled design, an activity-based control group, a specific THR intervention curriculum developed from our pilot project, outcome evaluators blinded to participants' intervention condition, parent and teacher outcome ratings, and previously-developed collaboration with a long-standing (29 years) intervention site. This riding center site is certified as a "Premiere" center by the NARHA, a national accrediting agency that adheres to the highest standards in the industry for human and animal safety and ethical standards for all living beings involved in the treatment process. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There are a large number of families of children with an ASD that seek this intervention, even though there is little evidence base. Determining if and how the human-animal interaction via THR is helpful to individuals with an ASD has far-reaching implications for the quality of life in this ASD population and their caregivers. THR is less invasive than the use of medications to treat symptoms such as irritability and hyperactivity, critical areas that impact the child's ability to function successfully in home and school environments.

描述（由申请人提供）：治疗性骑马 (THR) 经常被视为一种替代疗法，以解决经常损害自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 患者日常生活质量的行为障碍；然而，只有少数已发表的循证 THR 研究可以指导临床医生和消费者。这项研究旨在扩展我们的试点研究结果，即与 10 周候补对照组相比，参与 10 周治疗性骑马的 ASD 参与者的自我调节、沟通和运动技能显着改善。这项拟议的研究将尝试通过检查更大的样本并使用随机对照设计来复制这些试点研究结果以及最近 THR 研究的社会动机研究结果。此外，它将测试人与动物的相互作用对于试点研究中观察到的重大变化是否是必要的。这个问题将通过比较自闭症谱系障碍参与者每周 10 小时治疗性骑马 (n = 40) 与谷仓活动对照组 (n = 40) 的参与情况来检验，后者的治疗目标相同，并控制时间和注意力效应，但没有人与动物的互动。干预前和干预后评估将评估参与者的自我调节、沟通、社交和运动功能。该研究的第二个目的是确定参与 10 周的治疗性骑马所带来的改善是否能在 THR 干预后持续大约六个月。该研究项目的优势包括使用随机对照设计、基于活动的对照组、根据我们的试点项目开发的特定 THR 干预课程、对参与者的干预条件不知情的结果评估者、家长和教师的结果评级以及先前与长期（29 年）干预站点开展的合作。该马术中心被 NARHA 认证为“Premiere”中心，NARHA 是一家国家认证机构，遵守行业最高标准的人类和动物安全以及参与治疗过程的所有生物的道德标准。 公共卫生相关性：尽管证据基础很少，但仍有大量患有自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 儿童的家庭寻求这种干预措施。确定通过 THR 进行的人与动物互动是否以及如何对 ASD 个体有帮助，对于 ASD 人群及其护理人员的生活质量具有深远的影响。 THR 比使用药物治疗烦躁和多动等症状的侵入性更小，这些症状是影响孩子在家庭和学校环境中成功发挥作用的能力的关键领域。