Assessing a Structured, Goal-Oriented, Animal-Assisted Therapy Program among Youth with Socioemotional Problems: A Pilot Study of Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Efficacy

评估有社会情感问题的青少年的结构化、目标导向、动物辅助治疗计划：可行性、可接受性和初步疗效的试点研究

• 批准号: 10705738
• 负责人: KRISTEN C. JACOBSON
• 金额: $ 20.5万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-16 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10705738
• 关键词: Acute; Adult; Ambulatory Care; Animals; Area; Behavior; Behavior Disorders; Behavioral; Canis familiaris; Caring; Chicago; Child; Computers; Education; Educational Activities; Educational Curriculum; Emotional; Emotional disorder; Enrollment; Family; Feasibility Studies; Goals; Happiness; Informal Social Control; Intervention; Investigation; Lead; Measures; Mental Health; Mental Health Services; Neurosciences; Outcome; Outcome Study; Outpatients; Patient Self-Report; Pilot Projects; Play; Problem behavior; Process; Psychiatry; Randomized; Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials; Recovery; Reporting; Residential Treatment; Sampling; Self Efficacy; Social Behavior; Structure; Testing; Therapeutic; Therapeutic Effect; Training; Training Activity; United States National Institutes of Health; Universities; Vulnerable Populations; Youth; abuse neglect; aged; animal-assisted therapy; design; efficacy evaluation; emotion regulation; emotional behavior; feasibility testing; follow-up; improved outcome; instrument; intervention program; neurocognitive test; optimism; positive mood; primary outcome; programs; self esteem; skills; social; traditional therapy; treatment as usual; treatment center

PROJECT SUMMARY Over the past several years there has been an increase in the use of animal-assisted activities (AAA) and animal-assisted therapies (AAT) aimed at treating youth with social, emotional, and behavioral problems. To date, however, there is limited empirical investigation of whether these programs have additional therapeutic effects beyond the use of traditional therapies. Moreover, many AAA/AAT program are unstructured or use animals as an adjunct to the therapy process. In contrast the Canine Recovery & Care Canine-Assisted Therapy curriculum, developed by the Chicago-based Canine-Therapy Corps organization, is an 8- to10-week program of structured, goal-oriented activities focused specifically on dog training. This program has been implemented in several populations of vulnerable youth and adults, including a program that has been in place for over 10 years at Lawrence Hall’s residential Child and Family Treatment Center (CFTC) which provides acute levels of care and a valued placement option when abused and neglected youth need residential treatment to stabilize their behaviors. The CFTC is designed to treat youth with severe emotional behaviors, and the Recovery & Care program is one of several of CFTC’s alternative therapeutic approaches. The goals of this pilot project are to: 1) test for initial efficacy of the Recovery & Care Canine-Assisted Therapy program among 36 youth from Lawrence Hall, and 2) test the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term efficacy of expanding the program to a group of 36 youth currently in outpatient treatment for social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Results from this project will provide preliminary evidence of whether a structured, goal- oriented intervention program focused on dog training activities has direct impact on increasing youth emotional self-regulation, impulse control, and self-efficacy, which are important targets for intervention among youth with a wide range mental health problems. If successful, this project could lead to a larger, randomized control clinical trials study that tests the longitudinal impact of the program and could further lead to national dissemination of the Recovery & Care curriculum as an alternative therapeutic approach.

项目概要 在过去的几年中，动物辅助活动 (AAA) 的使用有所增加， 动物辅助疗法（AAT）旨在治疗有社交、情感和行为问题的青少年。到 然而，迄今为止，关于这些方案是否具有额外治疗作用的实证研究还很有限。 效果超出传统疗法。此外，许多 AAA/AAT 程序都是非结构化的或使用 动物作为治疗过程的辅助手段。相比之下，犬类康复和护理犬类辅助 治疗课程由芝加哥犬类治疗团组织开发，为期 8 至 10 周 结构化的、以目标为导向的活动计划，专门针对狗的训练。该计划已 在一些弱势青少年和成年人群体中实施，包括一项已经实施的计划 在 Lawrence Hall 的寄宿儿童和家庭治疗中心 (CFTC) 工作了 10 多年，该中心提供 当受虐待和忽视的青少年需要居住时，提供高水平的护理和有价值的安置选择 治疗以稳定他们的行为。 CFTC 旨在治疗有严重情绪行为的青少年， 恢复与护理计划是 CFTC 的几种替代治疗方法之一。目标 该试点项目的目的是： 1) 测试康复与护理犬辅助治疗计划的初步功效 在劳伦斯厅的 36 名青少年中进行，2）测试可行性、可接受性和短期效果 该计划扩大到 36 名目前正在门诊接受社交、情感和心理治疗的青少年。 行为问题。该项目的结果将提供初步证据，证明是否有一个结构化的、目标- 以狗训练活动为重点的定向干预计划对增加青少年有直接影响 情绪自我调节、冲动控制和自我效能感是干预的重要目标 患有广泛心理健康问题的青少年。如果成功，该项目可能会导致更大的、随机的 控制临床试验研究，测试该计划的纵向影响，并可能进一步导致国家 传播康复与护理课程作为替代治疗方法。