Science has shown several times how having a pet can be beneficial to many people. Now, a new study suggests that pets can also help improve mental health function among adolescents who have psychiatric issues.
The study, published in the Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, was conducted by researchers at the University of Florence and spearheaded by M.C. Stefanini.
Researchers wanted to determine how animal-assisted therapy (AAT) can help improve mental function among children and adolescents with acute mental disorders and compare it with the standard procedure of treatment.
To arrive at their findings, the researchers enlisted 34 patients who were admitted to the hospital for psychiatric disorders. The participants have been diagnosed with different disorders including eating disorder, mood disorder, and schizophrenia, the Pacific Standard gathered.
They were then grouped into two, with one receiving intervention involving pets and the other going through the standard treatment protocol.
Participants from the AAT group went through a 45-minute session with dogs from the Guide Dogs for the Blind in Tuscany, once a week. Activities, which were performed either in groups or individually, included agility training, dog grooming, dog handling, and basic command teaching.
Researchers also videotaped the entire session to track the patients' behavior during the study.
They found out that those in the AAT group had an improvement in their attendance in school and global functioning. The participants also stayed in the hospital for a lesser amount of time compared to the other group.
"Our results verify that AAT can have significant positive effects on therapeutic progress and the recovery process," the researchers concluded.
Although this is another study showing the many benefits of having pets around, researchers admit that further studies are needed to gain better understanding of how AAT can help in mental health disorders. In addition, the study only involved a small sample of patients from only one hospital.
According to the researchers as per Pacific Standard, adolescents in the study got to experience having to take care of someone else, an experience which improves "sense of self-agency and self-cure."
This effect not only fosters the bond between man and animal but it can also be "extended to the patient's global functioning and to the entire process of care."
