Abstract (eng)
Background
While the efficiency and effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) with pets is well-documented for children and people with disabilities, there currently exist very few studies on AAT with farm animals for patients with psychiatric disorders. The present study intends to fill this gap, and examines the effectiveness of AAT with horses specifically for in-patients with emotional instability (EI; PTSD and BPD) in comparison to in-patients with other psychiatric disorders.
Methods
The total sample consisted of 41 in-patients of a psychosomatic clinic in Lower Austria (Psychosomatisches Zentrum Waldviertel-Eggenburg) who underwent a complex treatment program. Of these, 23 patients were diagnosed with EI (PTSD or BPD), the remaining 18 patients had other and heterogeneous psychiatric disorders. Patients and AAT therapists rated self-reported and observed tension, anxiety, sadness, self-confidence, trust in others, curiosity and well-being at the beginning and end of each session. At the beginning and end of hospitalization, symptoms of different domains were assessed (FDS, BSL-23, IPC, SKI, SWE, FBeK, TAS-26, SCL-90-R, BDI, STAI, STAXI). Data from 76 historical patients with EI, who did not receive AAT in course of their treatment, were available for comparisons in the latter four domains.
Results
Tension, anxiety, sadness, self-confidence, trust in others and well-being im-proved during the TGT session (pre/post) in both groups. In the EI group, anxiety, ten-sion, sadness and curiosity also increased over the course of hospitalization. Overall, treatment resulted in mostly medium to large effects across the different outcome measures used. Among EI patients, AAT did not increase the overall effectiveness of treatment (significant improvements in SCL, BDI, STAI, and STAXI were observed, whether AAT was attended or not). However, comparisons regarding the specific symptoms of PTDS and BPD (FDS, BSL-23) could not be made, as historic controls lacked the necessary data.