Shelter Cat Adoption in Families of Children With Autism (Feline Friends)

Shelter Cat Adoption in Families of Children With Autism: Impact on Cat Stress and Children's Social Skills and Anxiety ("Feline Friends")

The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the introduction of a shelter cat into the family of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder on the social skills and anxiety of the child, and to examine stress in the cat.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety; Social Skills
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: shelter cat

Detailed Description

Many families in the United States live with cats as companion animals, including families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One in 68 children are diagnosed with ASD. There is no cure for ASD, and no one treatment works for all children. Symptoms of ASD include a lack of social skills and anxiety. Companion animals have been helpful for children with ASD. However, no one has studied stress of cats living in families of children with ASD. This study will place 64 pre-screened shelter cats in pre-screened homes and monitor the stress of the cats. Cats ages 10 months to four years that have been screened for calm behavior using a temperament, test will be adopted by families in the study. Families will also be screened for pet issues. No cat will be placed in a home with a child who has a history of aggression to animals. The study will also examine the social skills and anxiety of the children with ASD, and bonding of the parents and children with their cats. Five to eight million dogs and cats are relinquished to animal shelters in the United States each year. Thirty-eight percent of cats are given up for behavioral reasons. Studying cat stress and the placement of cats, with calm and non-aggressive characteristics into homes of families of children with ASD may help shed light on the likely success of the relationships between shelter cats and these families.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 11
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Missouri
    • Columbia, Missouri, United States, 65211
      • University of Missouri

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 17 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• child with diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder
• no cat currently living with the family
• willingness to adopt a shelter cat
• English speaking
• live within 125 miles of Columbia, Missouri

Exclusion Criteria:

• child with Autism Spectrum Disorder having any history of animal aggression
• children with cat allergies

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: OTHER
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: CROSSOVER
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
NO_INTERVENTION: Shelter cat adoption control group; Families of children with autism will complete a control period with no intervention, then adopt a shelter cat after completion of the control period
EXPERIMENTAL: shelter cat adoption; Families of children with autism will adopt a shelter cat	Other: shelter cat; families will adopt a shelter cat

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Social Skills of child with autism over time from baseline to 6, to 12 and to 18 weeks	Social skills measured using the Social Skills Improvement System Rating Scale (SSiS-RS) with scores from 0-138.	Control: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks
Change in Anxiety of child with autism over time from baseline to 6, to 12 and to 18 weeks	Anxiety measured using the Screen for Child Related Anxiety Disorders (SCARED) with scores from 0-82.	Control: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
change in parent Human-animal Bonding over time from 2-3 days, to 6, to 12 and 18 weeks	bonding of parent and cat using Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale with scores from 0-54.	Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 2-3 days, 6, 12 and 18 weeks
change in child Human-animal Bonding over time from 2-3 days, to 6, to 12 and 18 weeks	bonding of child with autism and cat using the Companion Animal Bonding Scale with scores from 8-40	Baseline, 6, 12 and 18 weeks Treatment: Baseline, 2-3 days, 6, 12 and 18 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Missouri-Columbia
• Collaborators: Winn Feline Foundation; Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gretchen K Carlisle, PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): June 23, 2017
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): October 1, 2019
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): October 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 17, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 8, 2018
• First Posted (ACTUAL): August 10, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): November 2, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 29, 2020
• Last Verified: October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2008460

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No