Effektiviteten av djurunderstödda tjänster för barn i skolåldern: En systematisk översikt

Sammanfattning

Introduction The introduction of animal-assisted interventions in various settings, especially in educational and therapeutic contexts for children and adolescents, has shown enormous potential. Studies on animal-assisted services have found positive effects on socio-emotional aspects, mood, behavior and educational outcomes of the young. However, to date, systematic reviews have focused on specific populations or animals and failed to discuss research limitations. To address these shortcomings, the authors conducted a systematic review to determine the effectiveness of animal-supported services on well-being, behavioral problems, and education-related outcomes in school-aged children and to assess the methodological quality of the included studies. Method According to PRISMA guidelines, systematic literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO via EBSCOhost, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from database content to August 2023. Two authors reviewed titles and abstracts based on selection criteria. The articles were then reviewed in full text format and included articles were assessed for risk of bias. Results The database search yielded a total of 2 380 hits, of which 30 were included. The studies were mainly randomized controlled trials, RCTs (n=21) and involved different types of populations, mostly general child populations (n=8) and children with autism spectrum disorders (n=10). Study outcomes were grouped into abilities, attitudes, externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, well-being, and problem-specific measures. Almost all studies reported at least one positive effect on socioemotional functioning and behavioral problems despite varying outcome measures and heterogeneity in the interventions. However, all included studies are considered to have a moderate to high risk of bias, mainly due to the fact that evaluators were not blind to the treatment received by the research subjects. Conclusion Animal-assisted services have the potential to improve cognitive, behavioral, and socioemotional characteristics and enhance learning skills in school-aged children, but more rigorous research is needed to substantiate these findings. In addition, evidence from cost-effectiveness analyses comparing animal-assisted services with standard methods could provide better information for decision-making.

Publicerad i

Utgivare: Uppsala Universitet

SLU författare

• Andersson, Maria

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Lidfors, Lena

  • Institutionen för tillämpad husdjursvetenskap och välfärd, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

UKÄ forskningsämne

Pedagogiskt arbete

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/140041