Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Guillen Guzmán, Elías
• Sastre Rodríguez, Laia
• Santamarina-Perez, Pilar
• Hermida Barros, Laura
• García Giralt, Marta
• Domenec Elizalde, Eva
• Ristol Ubach, Fransesc
• Romero Gonzalez, Miguel
• Pastor Yuste, Yeray
• Diaz Téllez, Cristina
• Romero Cela, Soledad
• Real Gisbert, Laura
• Salmeron Medina, Miquel
• Ballesteros-Urpi, Anna
• Morer Liñan, Astrid

Titel

The Benefits of Dog-Assisted Therapy as Complementary Treatment in a Children’s Mental Health Day Hospital

Ist Teil von

• Animals (Basel), 2022-10, Vol.12 (20), p.2841

Ort / Verlag

Basel: MDPI AG

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek - Frei zugängliche E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) has shown benefits in people with mental health disorders. A child psychiatric day hospital would be a suitable setting to implement DAT and evaluate the benefits in a pediatric population. Methods: Mixed methods research in a naturalistic setting was considered in this pre-post quantitative study including 23 children under 13 treated in a day hospital over 2 years. Quantitative analysis included the number of emotional and behavioral outbursts and attendance rate and self-control and social impairment questionnaires completed by family members and therapists. In the qualitative study, the experiences of 12 mental health professionals involved in DAT were documented through semi-structured interviews. Results: On DAT days, there were fewer emotional and behavioral outbursts and higher attendance. Significant differences were obtained between pre- and post-test scores on the SCRS and the SRS-2 completed by the therapists, while no significant differences were obtained on the questionnaires completed by the parents. Observations based on the qualitative study were as follows: (1) DAT improves emotional self-regulation; (2) DAT could facilitate the work of therapists in day hospitals; (3) health professionals displayed uncertainty due to a lack of familiarity with DAT. Conclusions: DAT improved emotional self-regulation, attendance rate and self-control and social response in children with mental disorders attending a day hospital.