Process Evaluation of Animal Assisted Therapies with Children: The Role of the Human-Animal Bond on the Therapeutic Alliance, Depth of Elaboration, and Smoothness of Sessions

Fabrizio Mezza, Claudia Saturnino, Rosa Pizzo, Antonio Santaniello, Serena Cristiano, Susanne Garzillo, Nelson Mauro Maldonato, Vincenzo Bochicchio, Lucia Francesca Menna, Cristiano Scandurra

Abstract


Objective: The current study examined the change processes in three Animal Assisted Therapies (AATs) by assessing the relationship between the human-animal bond and the therapeutic alliance, depth of elaboration, and smoothness of treatment sessions.


Methods: This was a retrospective study assessing videotaped AATs conducted with three children aged from 7 to 9 years old from the observer perspective. The AATs were based on the Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology, and each consisted in 8 sessions. A one-way analysis of variance and linear regression models was performed.


Results: The human-animal bond, therapeutic alliance, depth of elaboration, and smoothness significantly improved during the sessions. Furthermore, the improvement in therapeutic dimensions proved to be a function of the increase in the human-animal bond.


Conclusions: The findings have provided empirical evidence of the change processes occurring during AATs with children, offering some limited but specific insights into the interspecific relationship as a central axis of such treatments.


Keywords


Animal Assisted Therapy; Process; Alliance; Depth; Smoothness.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.13129/2282-1619/mjcp-3433

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