Animal-assisted Trauma-focused Therapy for Children and Adolescents

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF BASEL · Oct 31, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is exploring how having an animal present during therapy can help children and teenagers who are struggling with the effects of trauma. The study involves 80 young participants, aged 9 to 17, who have experienced a traumatic event and show signs of post-traumatic stress. They will be divided into two groups: one will receive standard trauma-focused therapy, while the other will participate in animal-assisted therapy, where an animal is included in their therapy sessions. The goal is to see if having an animal helps these young people feel more motivated to attend therapy and successfully complete their treatment.

To be eligible for the study, participants need to be between 9 and 17 years old, have a history of trauma, and show post-traumatic stress symptoms. It's important that they have a positive or neutral attitude towards animals, as well as a basic understanding of German to participate in the sessions and fill out questionnaires. Parents or guardians will also be involved in three meetings to support their child’s therapy journey. This research could provide valuable insights into how animals can play a role in helping children and teens heal from trauma.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Age between 9 and 17 years
• • experienced a traumatic event
• • remembers at least one traumatic event
• • Suffering from posttraumatic stress symptoms (screened via the CATS-2; cut-off ≥ 21; cut-off must be reached by either participant or caregiver)
• • Basic knowledge of child and parents in German to be able to understand content of the session and to fill in questionnaires
• • Informed consent (given by legal guardian for participants younger than 14 years)
• • Positive or neutral attitude towards animals
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Inability to complete questionnaires due to lack of language skills or cognitive impairment
• • Diagnosed autism spectrum disorder; Exclusion only if interaction with others and group ability is limited due to autism
• • Reported significant impairment or safety issue (e.g., active suicidal ideation, acute psychosis)
• • Known abuse of substances used for emotion regulation (e.g. cannabis, alcohol, other hard drugs)
• • Fear of domestic animals
• • Allergic reactions to domestic animals
• • Reported aggressive behavior towards animals in the past