Elevated Levels of COVID-19-Related Stress and Mental Health Problems Among Parents of Children with Developmental Disorders During the Pandemic.

COVID-19 not only threatens people's physical health, but also creates disruption in work and social relationships. Parents may even experience additional strain resulting from childcare responsibilities. A total of 129 parents participated in this study. Parents of children with developmental disorders showed higher levels of parenting stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms than did parents of children with typical development. Parenting stress and health worries were positively related to mental health symptoms. The association between having a child with developmental disorders and mental health symptoms was mediated by parenting stress. This study provides a timely investigation into the stress and mental health of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications on web-based parenting skills interventions, online psychological support services, and family-friendly policy initiatives are discussed.

Effect of a Canine-Assisted Read Aloud Intervention on Reading Ability and Physiological Response: A Pilot Study.

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is an increase in the reading fluency and accuracy of three lower performing third-graders after participating in a canine-assisted read-aloud program, as well as an increase in the relaxation level during and after the program. This study employed a pre-test-post-test design to test the hypotheses that gains would be made in both reading fluency and reading accuracy upon completion of the program. The three grade 3 students were assessed by the Chinese Character Reading Test and the Reading Fluency Test. During the intervention, they read to a trained canine in the presence of a handler. Three days after the completion of the seven 20-min interventions, the participants were assessed by the two standardized reading tests a second time. Heart rate variability (HRV) responses to the pre-test, the intervention and the post-test were recorded. The three grade 3 students attained a higher level of relaxation while reading to the dog and increased their reading fluency after the reading sessions. These results provided preliminary evidence that the canine-assisted read-aloud program can increase the reading performance of children with lower performance. Implications for future research and reading programs will be discussed.

Increasing the Social Communication of a Boy With Autism Using Animal-assisted Play Therapy: A Case Report.

CONTEXT: Although research has shown that animal-assisted play therapy (AAPT) is associated with increased positive social behaviors in children with autism, the related literature on AAPT and autism is very limited. OBJECTIVES: The study tested the effectiveness of AAPT in increasing the social communication of a boy with autism. The treatment's effects on specific types of social communication were also investigated. DESIGN: An A-B-A single-subject design was adopted to examine treatment effectiveness. Follow-up assessments were made at 1 mo posttreatment. SETTING: The videotaped treatment sessions were held in the multipurpose room of the participant's school. PARTICIPANT: A 7-y-old boy who had a diagnosis of autism and mild-grade intellectual disability participated in the study. INTERVENTION: AAPT was implemented in 20-min sessions held 3 ×/wk. The 14 AAPT sessions occurred in 4 phases, covering child-dog relationship building and interaction in the presence of the therapist, with the diminishing presence of the dog occurring in phase 4. OUTCOME MEASURES: Naturally occurring social behaviors were measured in 3 baseline sessions, during the 14 AAPT sessions, during 3 posttreatment sessions, and again during 3 follow-up sessions. Momentary time sampling was used to estimate the frequency of target behaviors, using a 15-s interval. Behavioral categories were checked at every interval during each 20-min session in all 23 sessions. RESULTS: The study showed that the boy's social communication increased during treatment and remained higher than baseline at follow-up. An analysis of specific types of social communication showed that the benefits of AAPT were most apparent in the joint-attention and waiting behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide support for using AAPT as an intervention to facilitate the social communication of children with autism.