Animal-assisted psychotherapy in treatment of adults with depressive symptoms: A retrospective quasi-experimental study

Abstract

Animal-assisted psychotherapy (AAP), a subspeciality of animal-assisted therapy (AAT), is a relatively new and innovative treatment modality currently provided to all age groups with various mental and behavioral health issues in different clinical settings. As AAP has become more popular, there is a need to evaluate the use of this approach in therapeutic settings. This study assessed AAP in treating adults with depressive symptoms using a modified version of the Patient Questionnaire Depression Module (mPHQ-9). Secondary data were obtained from a therapy site specializing in AAP in the Denver Metro region of the United States from January 2015 to February 2021. Adult participants 18 years and older were assessed at intake and the approximately 6-month treatment mark. A paired-sample t-test found that AAP resulted in a statistically significant decrease in depressive symptomology, with modified PHQ-9 (mPHQ-9) scores from Intake to Time 2 (t ₍₅₀₎ = 6.56, p < 0.001). The importance of animals in the participants’ decision to seek therapy also significantly influenced the change in depressive symptoms. The total variance explained by the importance of animals pre-treatment on depressive symptoms for adults with AAP was 8.1%, F (168.69, 1926.14) = 4.29, p = 0.044; moderate effect size (η2 = 0.46) was found. Clinical implications include the function of AAP, which requires a more accurate operational definition and a manualized AAP treatment protocol. AAP is a progressively growing intervention and a promising complementary modality to traditional therapeutic methods for adults with depressive symptoms.