An Overview of the Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Therapy with Children who have Experienced Sexual Abuse

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been a recent focus in mental health research. AAT has been supported by several theoretical perspectives, such as attachment theory. The human animal relationship can have numerous therapeutic effects. Canines has been shown to reduceheart rate, blood pressure, and increase levels of oxytocin. AAT can assist in developing the therapeutic alliance, has been shown to increase motivation, socialization, and enhance quality of life (Fine, 2010). Previous research has identified specific demographic, disability, andpsychological risk factors in children who are victims of sexual abuse (Miller-Perrin, Perrin, Renzetti, 2021). Child sexual abuse has been shown to have both a physiological and psychological effect (Krause-Parello, Gulick, 2015). Research has supported the use of equine-facilitated therapy and canine-assisted therapy for children who have experienced sexual abuse. The results of the studies found that equine-facilitated therapy produced a therapeutic effect and reduced reported depressive symptoms (Signal, Taylor, Botros, Prentice, Lazarus, 2013; Kemp, Signal, Botros, Taylor, Prentice, 2014). Canine- assisted therapy was shown to produce a more calming environment for the children in a forensic interview. Physiological reactions were recorded in the forensic interviews and showed that the AAT group had lower blood pressure and heart rate (Krause-Parello, Gulick, 2015). AAT has also been shown to beeffective in treating children with a history of sexual abuse and have been diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Avoidance, intrusion, arousal, and dissociation symptoms were reduced in the AAT intervention (Signal, Taylor, Prentice, McDade, Burke, 2017). There are several welfare considerations when using AAT (Fine, 2010). AAT is an upcoming approachto treating child sexual abuse that requires more research to promote and test the effectiveness of the intervention.