Children Reading to Dogs: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Background
Despite growing interest in the value of human-animal interactions (HAI) to human mental and physical health the quality of the evidence on which postulated benefits from animals to human psychological health are based is often unclear. To date there exist no systematic reviews on the effects of HAI in educational settings specifically focussing on the perceived benefits to children of reading to dogs. With rising popularity and implementation of these programmes in schools, it is essential that the evidence base exploring the pedagogic value of these initiatives is well documented.
Methods
Using PRISMA guidelines we systematically investigated the literature reporting the pedagogic effects of reading to dogs. Because research in this area is in the early stages of scientific enquiry we adopted broad inclusion criteria, accepting all reports which discussed measurable effects related to the topic that were written in English. Multiple online databases were searched during January-March 2015; grey literature searches were also conducted. The search results which met the inclusion criteria were evaluated, and discussed, in relation to the Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine levels of evidence; 27 papers were classified as Level 5, 13 as Level 4, 7 as Level 2c and 1 as Level 2b.
Conclusion
The evidence suggests that reading to a dog may have a beneficial effect on a number of behavioural processes which contribute to a positive effect on the environment in which reading is practiced, leading to improved reading performance. However, the evidence base on which these inferences are made is of low quality. There is a clear need for the use of higher quality research methodologies and the inclusion of appropriate controls in order to draw causal inferences on whether or how reading to dogs may benefit children’s reading practices. The mechanisms for any effect remain a matter of conjecture.

研究背景
尽管学界对人兽互动（Human-Animal Interactions, HAI）与人类身心健康的关联价值关注度与日俱增，但支撑"动物对人类心理健康具有假定益处"这一论断的相关证据质量往往并不明确。截至目前，尚未有针对教育场景下人兽互动效应的系统性综述，且此类综述未专门聚焦于"给狗狗朗读"对儿童带来的感知益处。随着此类校园项目的推广与落地，对这些教学举措的教育价值展开探索的证据基础亟待得到充分梳理与记录。

研究方法
本研究遵循PRISMA指南，系统检索了探讨"给狗狗朗读"的教学效应的相关文献。鉴于该领域的研究尚处于科学探索的早期阶段，本研究采用了宽泛的纳入标准，仅纳入以英文撰写、探讨与该主题相关的可测量效应的所有研究报告。2015年1月至3月期间，本研究检索了多个在线数据库，并同时开展了灰色文献检索。本研究依据牛津循证医学中心（Oxford Centre for Evidence Based Medicine）的证据分级标准，对符合纳入标准的检索结果进行了评估与讨论；最终将27篇文献归为5级，13篇归为4级，7篇归为2c级，1篇归为2b级。

研究结论
现有证据表明，"给狗狗朗读"或可对多项行为过程产生积极影响，进而优化阅读实践所处的环境，最终提升阅读表现。但支撑上述推论的证据基础质量较低。因此，亟需采用更高质量的研究方法，并设置恰当的对照，以探明"给狗狗朗读"是否以及如何对儿童的阅读行为产生益处，从而得出因果性推论。其具体作用机制仍有待进一步推测与探究。