New Study to Investigate the Impact of Pets on the Mental Health of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) announced today it has awarded a grant to the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver for a new study, Exploring the impacts of animal-assisted interventions on positive youth development for adolescents in residential treatment. The study aims to better understand the clinical, behavioral and educational impacts of the Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) programs at Green Chimneys, a therapeutic school and treatment center for children facing social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. “In conducting this study, we hope to better understand the impacts of the Green Chimneys AAI programs on student outcomes from the perspectives of the students who regularly participate in them,” explained the study’s Principal Investigator, Kevin Morris, PhD, Director of Research of the Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver. “The findings from this project will be combined with an array of other qualitative and quantitative studies underway at Green Chimneys, which we hope will create a more detailed understanding of the impacts of these programs.” The research team, led by Dr. Morris and Dr. Megan Mueller, Co-Director of the Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction, and including Erin Flynn, MSW, and Jaci Gandenberger, MSW, both from the Institute for Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver, will conduct semi-structured interviews with 20 5th-7th grade Green Chimneys students across both residential and day programs. After conducting the interviews, key themes will be identified and reviewed for common meanings and then grouped together via identified constitutive content that links the themes to one another. These student themes will be combined with the findings of previous qualitative studies conducted with Green Chimneys teaching, clinical and animal program staff to create a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms by which...

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) and Pet Partners today announced the publication of an important study showing significant reductions in child and parental anxiety and the reduced need for anxiety medication resulting from therapy dog visits in the emergency department. This study, published in JAMA Network was led by Jeffrey A. Kline, MD, Associate Chair of Research at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine. “Virtually all children experience some degree of psychological stress as patients in the emergency department, and about 15% suffer such stress that they require an intervention to allow care processes to continue,” said Dr. Kline, the study’s principal investigator. “We found that implementation of therapy dog visits has the potential to reduce fear and anxiety in children and their parents and improve their overall emergency department experience, which has the potential to improve outcomes in a low-cost, low-risk way.” Eighty patients aged 5-17 years were enrolled in the study. All received standard child-life therapy, and the intervention group (n=40) was randomly assigned to have exposure to a therapy dog-handler team for approximately ten minutes. Anxiety was measured using the FACES scale and salivary cortisol concentrations. Measurements were obtained at baseline, forty-five minutes post-intervention, and 120 minutes post-intervention. Results of the study provide novel evidence that animal-assisted therapy (AAT), adjunctive to child-life therapy (usual care), can reduce both patient and parental perception of anxiety in the emergency department. Forty-six percent of children in the therapy dog group saw a decrease in anxiety scores in comparison to 23% in the control group. In addition, 55% of children in the control group received ketamine, midazolam or droperidol, while just 35% of in the therapy dog (intervention) group children received these drugs, representing a clinically significant...

The Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) today issued a new report, The Role of Companion Animals for Improved Mental Health, focused on providing data, insights and best practices to move society towards more widespread awareness and implementation of policies and programs that elevate the role of pets for improved mental health. “By prioritizing research, fostering partnerships, advancing best practices, and advocating for pet-inclusive policies, we can unlock the full potential of the human-animal bond to improve mental health outcomes for everyone,” said Steven Feldman, president of HABRI. The positive impact of the human-animal bond for mental well-being has been validated through decades of scientific research. Building on this foundation, the HABRI Spring Policy Forum sought to uncover the practical implications of these findings, examining successful programs, practices and resources that harness the human-animal bond for improved mental health outcomes. The Report provides a synopsis of the expert presentations made by professionals across a wide array of disciplines, including mental health, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs), veterinary medicine, social work, housing and public policy. A key finding is that the lack of access to affordable, pet-friendly housing poses a significant barrier to pet ownership for many. During the Policy Forum, the Enforcement Division of Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, shared insights on how the agency plays a key role in implementing regulations related to service and assistance animals in public housing, ensuring that individuals with these animals are protected from discrimination. Important legislation, the People and Animals Wellbeing (PAW) Act, was presented by the bill’s lead sponsor, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24), with the goal of keeping people and pets together by making veterinary care more affordable for pets and service...