# Animal Assisted Intervention with Dogs for Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder;  Exploring Candidate Physiological Markers of Response to AAI

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 2020 · $235,500

## Abstract

SSCHUCK_R21_20-033
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly occurring
neurodevelopmental disorder in the United States, with current prevalence between 8% and
11% (Visser et al., 2014). Evidence-based interventions include stimulant medications and
psychosocial treatments but these practices are not always feasible or acceptable due to
adverse side-effects, cost, availability, and poor treatment adherence and these children remain
at significant risk for poor life outcomes. ADHD is considered to be a result of a physiological
disruption of select catecholaminergic systems (e.g. dopamine, norepinephrine) and related
under-arousal of cognitive functions of the pre-frontal cortex involved in executive functioning
(EF; Godinez et al., 2015). Research indicates that AAI with dogs is effective for improving
social-behavioral outcomes related to EF deficits (Schuck, et al., 2018a; 2018b). The
mechanisms by which AAI improves outcomes for this group and mediators of these
outcomes, however, is not yet understood. These gaps in understanding hinder progress in
the application of AAI, and limit the acceptability and availability of this integrative health
care practice. Our bio-social mechanistic hypothesis contends that dogs elicit physiological
responses related to arousal of EF systems, thereby enhancing response to treatments.
Furthermore, candidate individual differences potentially mediate outcomes. This work will
explore these hypotheses by: 1) replicating findings from our previous AAI RCT, 2) exploring
physiological responses to AAI over time, and 3) ascertaining if individual differences during AAI
mediate primary and/or exploratory main outcomes. We suspect AAI will result in enhanced
social-behavioral outcomes and improved diurnal patterns of HPA and ANS activity for these
children. Furthermore, we suspect acute physiological responses to AAI (markers of HPA &
ANS) and social interaction quality (child/child and child/dog) will mediate main outcomes. To
explore these hypotheses, we will conduct an exploratory parallel-group randomized controlled
clinical trial with 48 young children with ADHD, participating in psychosocial intervention with or
without AAI using our manualized AAI model developed and found successful in our prior work.
This work will yield the first information on candidate mechanisms thought to play an important
role in AAI for children with ADHD, thus laying foundations for development of a fully powered,
multi-site randomized clinical trial aimed to better inform approaches and promote acceptability
and availability of AAI for children with special needs.
Animal Assisted Intervention with Dogs for Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder;
Exploring Candidate Physiological Markers of Response to AAI

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10076571
- **Project number:** 1R21HD103422-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Sabrina Elayne Brierley Schuck
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $235,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-11 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10076571

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10076571, Animal Assisted Intervention with Dogs for Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder;  Exploring Candidate Physiological Markers of Response to AAI (1R21HD103422-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10076571. Licensed CC0.

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