{"id":6122,"date":"2019-09-27T12:17:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T16:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qa.vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=6122"},"modified":"2026-05-11T15:43:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:43:19","slug":"study-led-by-pvm-researchers-looks-at-if-or-how-service-dogs-help-children-with-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/study-led-by-pvm-researchers-looks-at-if-or-how-service-dogs-help-children-with-autism.php","title":{"rendered":"Study Led by PVM Researchers Looks at If or How Service Dogs Help Children with Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A group of researchers at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine is launching a new study this fall to find out if or how service dogs help children with autism spectrum disorder. The study will also evaluate the impact service dogs have on caregiver and family functioning. (Canine Companions for Independence\u00ae photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As the number of\nchildren being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder continues to rise, so\ndoes the demand for a popular treatment \u2013 service dogs.  Yet, even though the number of service dogs\nbeing provided for children with autism is growing, there is a lack of\nscientific evidence on whether, or how, these dogs help. In addition, minimal\nresearch has explored how these dogs may help parents \u2013 who often face significant\nstress and challenges of their own. A group of Purdue Veterinary Medicine researchers\nis launching a new study this fall to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, called the Purdue Canines for Autism Research Study, or Purdue CARES, is being led by Dr. Maggie O’Haire and graduate student Kerri Rodriguez from the Center for the Human-Animal Bond, in collaboration with the Purdue Autism Research Center<\/a>, Arizona University<\/a>, and Canine Companions for Independence<\/a>. Funding includes an $85,000 grant from the Human-Animal Bond Research Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith so many emerging complementary and integrative treatments for autism, it is critical to better understand how this increasingly popular practice affects children with autism and their families,\u201d said Dr. O’Haire, who holds a faculty appointment as associate professor of human-animal interaction in the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Department of Comparative Pathobiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this study, Dr. O’Haire and Rodriguez hope to address some of the gaps when it comes to treatment options for children diagnosed with autism. Right now, a lack of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of service dogs leaves more questions than answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the absence of this information, families and clinicians do not have an evidence base to draw upon to know what to expect,\u201d Dr. O’Haire said. \u201cThere remains a critical need to empirically quantify the effects of autism service dogs, not only on clinically-relevant outcomes for children with autism, but also on caregiver and family functioning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One in 59\nchildren is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, according to the\nCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. \nThe study will focus on children diagnosed with autism who range from\nages four to 17 and will compare the symptoms of children who currently have\nservice dogs in the home and those who are on a waiting list for a service dog.\nResearchers also will assess participants\u2019 cortisol levels, a biomarker\ninvolved in the stress response system, as well as reports of their sleep\nhabits provided by their caregivers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to 100 participants will be recruited from Canine Companions for Independence, one of the largest providers of assistance dogs in the United States. Service dogs provided by Canine Companions for Independence are purpose-bred Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, or Golden-Labrador crosses specifically trained for skills and tasks that help mitigate the child\u2019s autism symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see the positive impact of Canine Companions’ assistance dogs on children with autism as early as the very first night with the dog,\u201d said Paige Mazzoni, Canine Companions CEO. \u201cThe collaborative research study with Purdue on the effects of task-trained service dogs for these children and their families can help offer insight into innovative approaches to autism from a therapeutic and social perspective. This important national study is one of the first of its kind, and as leaders in the assistance dog industry, Canine Companions is uniquely positioned to make a study of this magnitude possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also will evaluate the impact service dogs have on caregiver and family functioning through a caregiver report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are excited\nto take a family-wide approach to studying how an autism service dog\nintegrates into the home,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cSpecifically, our innovative study\nwill not only measure the effects that a service dog may have on child\nfunctioning, but also the parents\u2019 functioning and overall family\ndynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work aligns with Purdue’s Giant Leaps<\/strong> celebration, acknowledging the University\u2019s global advancements made in health, longevity, and quality of life as part of Purdue\u2019s 150th anniversary. This is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebration\u2019s\u00a0Ideas Festival<\/strong>, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the number of children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder continues to rise, so does the demand for a popular treatment \u2013 service dogs. Yet, even though the number of service dogs being provided for children with autism is growing, there is a lack of scientific evidence on whether, or how, these dogs help. In addition, minimal research has explored how these dogs may help parents \u2013 who often face significant stress and challenges of their own. A group of Purdue Veterinary Medicine researchers is launching a new study this fall to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,817,29,11,42],"tags":[1092,1093,1310,26,56,318,58,1311,1312,394],"class_list":["post-6122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-human-animal-bond","category-our-people","category-research","category-students","tag-autism-research","tag-autism-spectrum-disorder","tag-canine-companions","tag-featured-story","tag-homepage","tag-kerri-rodriguez","tag-maggie-ohaire","tag-purdue-canine-for-autism-research-study","tag-purdue-cares","tag-service-dogs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6122"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33675,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6122\/revisions\/33675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}