Canine co‐therapy: The potential of dogs to improve the acceptability of trauma‐focused therapies for children

Abstract

Objective: Post-traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating syndrome that effects approximately 30% of those who experience childhood trauma. Whilst effective treatments exist, they have high rates of attrition and non-engagement. Augmenting traditional interventions such as trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy is an approach often used to address this problem. The current study aimed to assess the acceptability of a novel adjunct, canine-assisted therapy, which may be particularly useful with younger children. Method: A community sample of Australian parents and caregivers (N = 267) read one of two vignettes describing problematic behaviour following sexual trauma in either a 6-or 13-year-old girl. Participants then rated their acceptability of three described treatment alternatives; traditional therapy alone, with medication and with canine-assisted therapy, using the Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form. Results: Regardless of the age of the child traditional therapy with canine-assisted adjunct had the highest acceptability. Adjunct medication was the least acceptable approach, particularly in those with no prior psychoactive medication experience. Conclusions: Canine-assisted therapy as an adjunct to traditional cognitive-behavioural approaches holds promise as a way to improve acceptability. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

Dogs at school: a quantitative analysis of parental perceptions of canine-assisted activities in schools mediated by child anxiety score and use case

“…Studies which use animals in psychotherapeutic settings have had positive outcomes when treating adolescents with anxiety and depression (Wilson et al, 2017 ). Furthermore, some studies have found that therapy involving animals is more acceptable than medication when treating children with externalising behaviour problems (Dravsnik et al, 2018 ; Rabbitt et al, 2014 ).…”

“…Two separate studies have found parental perceptions of CAA to be positive, ranking dog-assisted psychotherapy as preferable to medication (Dravsnik et al, 2018 ; Rabbitt et al, 2014 ). However, these studies did not examine CAA in schools, nor differentiate between various CAA uses.…”