Social Working Dogs Support to Children With Problematic School Absence

NCT ID: NCT07168460

Last Updated: 2025-09-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 64 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-09-13
• Study Completion Date: 2024-02-14

Brief Summary

The purpose of this project is to investigate whether trained social service dogs can increase students' school attendance and school motivation, and ultimately contribute to students reaching the basic learning goals. Main research questions are:

1. What are the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of having social service dogs support at schools to improve learning outcome and school attendance in students with problematic school absence?

2. What are the risks to the health and well-being of those social working dogs when they work in the school environment as well as the challenges in bringing dogs to the schools?

Researchers compared the intervention group which consisted of students supported by social working dogs, to the control group of students supported by special education teachers. Participants were assigned to each group randomly. Students from each group met the support teams for 30 minutes per session, twice per week for 10-12 weeks. During the intervention, children had physical contact with dogs as much as they wished and on consideration of dogs' welfare. The dog handler carried out some pedagogical tasks, such as children reading to the dog while the dog was next to the child or when its head was on the child's lap. The dog handlers documented the process of each session and observed the children on their educational tasks. Children in the control group met special education teachers and received pedagogical tasks involving Swedish, mathematics, etc. Similar to the dog team, special education teachers documented the process and observed the performance of children's educational tasks.

Detailed Description

The aim of this project is to investigate whether an intervention delivered by trained social working dog teams can increase school attendance among school-age children in grades 3-9, contribute to children achieving the basic learning goals, and improve health-related quality of life. The study design is an individually-randomized controlled trial with two arms - intervention and control. Randomization is conducted at the individual level within each school through lottery. Schools in Sweden were contacted by sending out flyers. Principals who wanted their schools to participate in the project contacted the project manager. The selection criteria for inclusion in the project are children from grades 3-9 with at least 15% absence from school during at least one semester, receiving no additional support.The criteria for exclusion are as follows: children who had 50%-100% absenteeism for more than a year; children who were severely allergic to dogs or who had previous negative experiences with dogs; and children from grades 1-3. Additionally, children who had previously participated in an intervention with a social working dog were excluded, as the potential impact on the results is unknown. Participation was voluntary, and written consent forms from both children and parents/ guardians were obtained. The study population includes school-age children from grades 3-9 in Sweden. A sample size of around 64 school-going children with a 1:1 allocation was allocated within the schools into control and intervention groups. Primary outcome data were collected at the following time points: T0 - pre-intervention (the whole semester before intervention), T1 - the whole semester during intervention, and T2 - the whole semester after intervention. Secondary outcome data were collected at T0 - pre-intervention, T1 - immediately post intervention, T2 - 3 months post intervention, and T3 - 6 months post intervention.

Conditions

Learning Development; Quality of Life; School Attendance

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Social working dogs team

Children are randomized to this social working dogs team to receive dog-assisted educational tasks such as reading.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Dog-assisted support

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Children in the intervention group received dog-assisted support for 30 minutes per session, twice per week for 10-12 weeks. The process began with children meeting school dog with dog handlers either at their home or at school. During the intervention, children had physical contact with dogs as much as they wished and on consideration of dogs' welfare. The dog handler carried out some pedagogical tasks, such as children reading to the dog while the dog was next to the child or when its head was on the child's lap. The dog handler documented the process of each session in a protocol filled in after each session and observed the children on their educational tasks.

Special education teachers team

Children are randomized to this active control group to perform educational tasks with the support of special educational teachers.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Special education teacher support

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Children in the control group met special education teachers and received pedagogical tasks involving Swedish, mathematics, etc. Similar to the dog team, special education teachers documented the process and observed the performance of children's educational tasks.

Interventions

Dog-assisted support

Children in the intervention group received dog-assisted support for 30 minutes per session, twice per week for 10-12 weeks. The process began with children meeting school dog with dog handlers either at their home or at school. During the intervention, children had physical contact with dogs as much as they wished and on consideration of dogs' welfare. The dog handler carried out some pedagogical tasks, such as children reading to the dog while the dog was next to the child or when its head was on the child's lap. The dog handler documented the process of each session in a protocol filled in after each session and observed the children on their educational tasks.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Special education teacher support

Children in the control group met special education teachers and received pedagogical tasks involving Swedish, mathematics, etc. Similar to the dog team, special education teachers documented the process and observed the performance of children's educational tasks.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Children from grades 3-9 with at least 15% absence from school during at least one semester and receiving no additional support.

Exclusion Criteria

• Children who had 50%-100% absenteeism for more than a year
• Children who were severely allergic to dogs or who had previous negative experiences with dogs
• Children from grades 1-3
• Children who had previously participated in an intervention with a social working dog.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 8 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Uppsala University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Lena Lidfors, Doctorate in Ethology

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Locations

Uppsala University & Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Uppsala, , Sweden

Countries

Sweden

Other Identifiers

N2021-0022

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2022-01706-01

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id