Owning a dog significantly reduces stress levels among families who have a child with autism, a new study has found.

Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a biological disorder of the brain that impairs communication and social skills. Signs can include an absence of eye contact, apparent aloofness, avoidance of physical contact even with family and difficulty dealing with interruptions to routine.

At least 1% of children in Ireland are estimated to have the condition and a number of families here have already greatly benefited from autism assistance dogs, which are highly trained dogs that help to provide independence and companionship to children with autism.

However, this study focused on families who simply had dogs as pets.

"While there‭ ‬is‭ ‬growing‭ ‬evidence ‬that ‬animal-assisted‭ ‬therapy‭ ‬can aid in ‬the‭ ‬treatment‭ ‬of‭ children with ‬ASD, this study is one of the first to examine how‭ ‬pet‭ ‬dog‭ ‬ownership‭ ‬can also ‬improve‭ ‬the‭ ‬lives‭ ‬of‭ ‬those‭ ‬more widely affected‭ ‬by‭ ‬autism.

"Researchers have previously focused on the positive effects that assistance dogs can have on the child's wellbeing and have passed over the impact they might also have on close relatives, but our results show that owning a pet dog (rather than a specifically trained assistance dog) can considerably improve the function of the whole family unit," explained Prof Daniel Mills of the University of Lincoln in the UK.

‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬He noted that the study found a ‘significant, positive relationship between parenting stress of the child's main caregiver and their attachment to the family dog'. In other words, the more attached the caregiver was to the dog, the less stressed they were. The researchers believe that this highlights the importance of the bond between the caregiver and their dog.

The study involved families who had taken part in a previous study looking at the short-term impact of dog ownership on families affected by autism. For the current study, these families were followed up two-and-a-half years later.

The researchers found that the initial results which suggested reduced stress lasted for years after the dog was initially acquired, and stress levels continued to decline steadily.

"Stress associated with parenting a child with autism continued to decrease among dog owners over time, but we did not see the same reductions in families without a dog. This long-term follow up study highlights the potential benefits of pet ownership in bringing long-term improvements to the lives of families living with a child with autism," Prof Mills said.

Details of these findings are published in the American Journal of Veterinary Behavior.

For more information on autism assistance dogs, click here