Trial results for a pilot study investigating Animal Assisted Intervention for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-09-12. The study, which enrolled 39 participants, found that the intervention group had a mean ADHD-Rating Scale score of 23.9 at 8 weeks, compared to 29.0 in the control group.

Background

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that interfere with functioning or development. Current management often involves a combination of behavioral therapies, such as social skills training, and sometimes medication. There is ongoing interest in exploring novel, non-pharmacological psychosocial interventions to complement or enhance existing treatments. This pilot study aimed to investigate the potential benefits of integrating Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) with therapy dogs into traditional social skills training for children with ADHD, comparing it to social skills training alone.

Trial design

This completed pilot study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 39 participants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The trial compared a novel psychosocial intervention, Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) with therapy dogs combined with traditional social skills training, against psychosocial treatment as usual (TAU) which involved social skills training alone. The study's objective was to replicate previous findings and explore potential differences in physiological markers between the groups.

Key results

The trial reported several key measurements related to ADHD symptoms and self-perception:

What this means

The results from this pilot study suggest that Animal Assisted Intervention, when combined with social skills training, may lead to a reduction in ADHD symptoms in children. The Animal Assisted Intervention group consistently showed lower mean scores on the ADHD-Rating Scale at both 8 weeks and 16 weeks follow-up compared to the psychosocial treatment as usual group. Additionally, the Animal Assisted Intervention group demonstrated slightly higher mean scores on the Self-Perception Profile for Children, potentially indicating an improvement in self-perception. While the Social Responsiveness Scale scores were also measured, without further context or statistical analysis, their implications are less clear. As a pilot study with a small enrollment of 39 participants, these findings are preliminary and warrant further investigation in larger, controlled trials to confirm efficacy and understand the full clinical impact.

Source

The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT05102344, titled "Animal Assisted Intervention With Dogs for Children With ADHD", were posted on 2025-09-12 on clinicaltrials.gov.