The effect of animal-assisted therapy on emotional and behavioral symptoms in children and adolescents hospitalized for acute mental disorders

Introduction: Several studies have been conducted to demonstrate the efficacy Animal-Assisted Intervention in clinical practice for the treatment of children and young people with emotional and behavioral difficulties, to date less is known about the effectiveness of AAT in reducing psychopathological symptoms of acute psychiatric diseases in both children and adolescents. The object of the study was to examine the effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) on behavioral and emotional symptoms reported by children and adolescent psychiatric patients hospitalized for acute mental disorders. Methods: To this aim a pre-post experimental design with a randomized controlled trial (RTC) was carried out. 20 patients involved in AAT interventions, according to high quality standards for AAT research, were compared with 20 patients that followed the usual therapeutic treatment. A Youth Self-Report (YSR) was used to measure patients' emotional and behavioral symptoms. Global functioning was assessed by the Children Global Assessment Scale (C GAS). Results: Results indicate a significant decrease in internalizing, externalizing symptoms and an increase in social competence, as well significant improvement in global functioning in the AAT treatment group, but not in the control group. Discussion: Our results confirm the efficacy of AAT in reducing clinical symptoms and promoting therapeutic process.