Group changes in cortisol and heart rate variability of children with Down syndrome and children with autism spectrum disorder during dog-assisted therapy

Richard E. Griffioen, Geert van Boxtel, Theo Verheggen, Marie-Jose Enders-Slegers*, Steffie van der Steen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
61 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Dog-assisted therapy is hypothesized to lower stress in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and children with Down syndrome (DS), which may be visible on a physiological level. In this study, we measured heart rate variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol of 20 children with DS or ASD at the beginning and end of six weekly sessions of dog-assisted therapy. We found a decrease of cortisol levels during single sessions, but no overall effect after six sessions (six weeks).
The effect of dog-assisted therapy on the increase of HRV could not be confirmed. This study is one of the first to use physiological measurements to test the effects of DAT.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1200
JournalChildren
Volume10
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Keywords

  • animal-assisted interventions; HRV; cortisol; stress; dog-assisted therapy; Down syndrome; autism spectrum disorder

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