Table 1. Demographic and behavioral characteristics of study groups (G0A and G0B never owned pet; Galw always owned a pet; Gpet didn’t own a pet before the age of 5, but owned at least one at the time of assessment).
| GOA (n = 12) | Gpet (n = 12) | GOB (n = 8) | Galw (n = 8) | |
| Gender (M/F) | 9/3 | 9/3 | 4/4 | 4/4 |
| Age (months; mean ± SD; range) | 122.8±52.3 (87–180) | 137.1±60.6 (80–185) | 137.2±42.7 (73–201) | 128.6±44.4 (75–200) |
| Overall level of language 1 | 9/3 | 9/3 | 2/6 | 2/6 |
| Epilepsy (yes/no) | 8/0 | 8/0 | 1/11 | 0/12 |
| ADI-R at t0 (mean ± SD) | ||||
| Total | 44.5±5.3 | 44.6±4.5 | 45.8±1.7 | 43.1±3.0 |
| Reciprocal social interactions | 23.2±3.1 | 22.1±3.6 | 25.0±1.9 | 21.9±2.1 |
| Non verbal Communication | 10.3±2.2 | 11.0±1.7 | 10.9±0.6 | 9.9±1.5 |
| Verbal Communication 2 | 15.9±2.6 | 16.9±1.0 | 17.3±0.6 | 13.5±1.8 |
| Restricted and repetitive behaviors | 5.4±1.1 | 5.6±0.9 | 7.8±1.3 | 9.9±1.0 |
| ADI-R at t1 (mean ± SD) | ||||
| Total | 38.7±4.5 | 38.6±5.0 | 39.8±7.0 | 38.8±5.9 |
| Reciprocal social interactions | 22.1±3.6 | 18.8±3.5 | 18.6±4.5 | 19.1±3.6 |
| Non verbal Communication | 7.1±2.0 | 10.3±1.9 | 10.3±2.9 | 7.5±2.8 |
| Verbal Communication 2 | 11.5±1.9 | 14.9±1.5 | 14.5±2.0 | 10.4±2.2 |
| Restricted and repetitive behaviors | 5.1±1.2 | 4.8±0.9 | 6.6±1.4 | 9.3±1.5 |
| Mann Whitney U-test at t0 | U | p-value | U | p-value |
| Total | 152 | 0.931 | 81.5 | 0.170 |
| Reciprocal social interactions | 157 | 0.707 | 81 | 0.189 |
| Non verbal Communication | 138.5 | 0.521 | 74 | 0.564 |
| Verbal Communication 2 | 133.5 | 0.353 | 72 | 0.554 |
| Restricted and repetitive behaviors | 148 | 0.931 | 74 | 0.560 |
1
Absence/presence of verbal language as defined according to the ADI-R criteria.
2
Scores corresponded to children who had a verbal language according to the ADI-R criteria.