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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.

This is the first study to investigate humane attitudes toward animals and empathic tendencies toward humans among Chinese adolescents and young adults. The present study administered two scales, the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), to 471 Hong Kong secondary school and university students who were between the ages of 14 and 25. The findings of the present study suggest that Chinese secondary school and university students tend to consider the instrumental value of animals used for the benefit of humans. Animal use for luxury purposes was most unacceptable, while animal use for survival purposes was most acceptable to these students. The many undecided responses on animal welfare issues might reflect students' lack of knowledge regarding the availability of non-animal alternatives in our lives. The results also show that there is a strong link between humane attitudes and human empathy in the young people in Hong Kong. Gender and education level were found to be significant factors of a humane attitude as well as human-directed empathy. The current study implies that a humane education (HE) program could be particularly beneficial to the empathy development of male adolescents.

A canine-assisted reading program, a form of animal-assisted intervention (AAI), is a goal-oriented program that incorporates trained animals--particularly canines--in formal human services. In recent decades, the positive effects of human-animal interaction in supporting the social, psychological, and physiological needs of humans have been expeditiously evaluated and compiled. In the field of education, there is also an emerging body of research of the effectiveness of canine-assisted reading programs. It is suggested that reading to a calm, non-judgmental, well-trained canine companion makes the process and practice of reading both meaningful and enjoyable for children. Drawing on humanistic theories of motivation and current studies exploring AAI, this article suggests that a canine-assisted reading program could be extended to benefit the population of children with special educational needs (SEN). The use of trained canines as an addition to dialogic reading, which is an established, evidence-based reading program, is also introduced in this article.

Background: The needs of parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) in disadvantaged families are frequently unmet by service providers. This service gap likely diminishes the therapeutic gains of children's treatment. Catering to the psychological needs of both children and parents is important. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of a person‐centred psychotherapy programme for children with DD and parents in disadvantaged families in reducing parenting stress and promoting positive children's behaviours. Method: Fifteen parent–child dyads participated in a person‐centred psychotherapy programme consisting of eight 1‐hr child‐centred play therapy (CCPT) sessions and four 1‐hr person‐centred therapy (PCT) sessions. The parents completed a quantitative questionnaire before and after the programme. Results: The results indicated a significant reduction in children's conduct problems, with a large effect size, and in the levels of parental distress, parent–child dysfunctional interaction and difficulty in controlling their child's behaviours, with large effect sizes after the interventions. Conclusions: This study provides positive evidence for the effectiveness of the person‐centred intervention programme. The results imply that individual humanistic therapy sessions are essential and effective to cater to parents' needs. Service providers can provide PCT to parents when delivering child services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.