Cargando…
The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review
Beyond the functional tasks that assistance dogs are trained for, there is growing literature describing their benefits on the psychosocial health and wellbeing of their handlers. However, this research is not only widely disparate but, despite its growth, has not been reviewed since 2012. Our objec...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2020
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7710121/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33264370 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243302 |
_version_ | 1783617884277178368 |
---|---|
author | Rodriguez, Kerri E. Greer, Jamie Yatcilla, Jane K. Beck, Alan M. O’Haire, Marguerite E. |
author_facet | Rodriguez, Kerri E. Greer, Jamie Yatcilla, Jane K. Beck, Alan M. O’Haire, Marguerite E. |
author_sort | Rodriguez, Kerri E. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Beyond the functional tasks that assistance dogs are trained for, there is growing literature describing their benefits on the psychosocial health and wellbeing of their handlers. However, this research is not only widely disparate but, despite its growth, has not been reviewed since 2012. Our objective was to identify, summarize, and methodologically evaluate studies quantifying the psychosocial effects of assistance dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted across seven electronic databases. Records were independently screened by two authors. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they assessed outcomes from guide, hearing, medical, or mobility service dogs, if they collected original data on handlers’ psychosocial functioning, and if the outcome was measured quantitatively with a validated, standardized measure. Studies on psychiatric service dogs, emotional support dogs, and pet dogs were excluded. Of 1,830 records screened, 24 articles were identified (12 publications, 12 theses) containing 27 studies (15 cross-sectional, 12 longitudinal). Studies assessed the effects of mobility (18), hearing (7), guide (4), and medical (2) assistance dog partnerships with an average sample size of N = 83. An analysis of 147 statistical comparisons across the domains of psychological health, quality of life, social health, and vitality found that 68% of comparisons were null, 30% were positive in the hypothesized direction, and 2% were negative. Positive outcomes included significant effects of having an assistance dog on psychological wellbeing, emotional functioning, self-esteem, and vitality. However, it is of note that several methodological weaknesses of the studies make it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions, including inadequate reporting and a failure to account for moderating or confounding variables. Future research will benefit from stronger methodological rigor and reporting to account for heterogeneity in both humans and assistance dogs as well as continued high-quality replication. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7710121 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-77101212020-12-03 The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review Rodriguez, Kerri E. Greer, Jamie Yatcilla, Jane K. Beck, Alan M. O’Haire, Marguerite E. PLoS One Research Article Beyond the functional tasks that assistance dogs are trained for, there is growing literature describing their benefits on the psychosocial health and wellbeing of their handlers. However, this research is not only widely disparate but, despite its growth, has not been reviewed since 2012. Our objective was to identify, summarize, and methodologically evaluate studies quantifying the psychosocial effects of assistance dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted across seven electronic databases. Records were independently screened by two authors. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they assessed outcomes from guide, hearing, medical, or mobility service dogs, if they collected original data on handlers’ psychosocial functioning, and if the outcome was measured quantitatively with a validated, standardized measure. Studies on psychiatric service dogs, emotional support dogs, and pet dogs were excluded. Of 1,830 records screened, 24 articles were identified (12 publications, 12 theses) containing 27 studies (15 cross-sectional, 12 longitudinal). Studies assessed the effects of mobility (18), hearing (7), guide (4), and medical (2) assistance dog partnerships with an average sample size of N = 83. An analysis of 147 statistical comparisons across the domains of psychological health, quality of life, social health, and vitality found that 68% of comparisons were null, 30% were positive in the hypothesized direction, and 2% were negative. Positive outcomes included significant effects of having an assistance dog on psychological wellbeing, emotional functioning, self-esteem, and vitality. However, it is of note that several methodological weaknesses of the studies make it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions, including inadequate reporting and a failure to account for moderating or confounding variables. Future research will benefit from stronger methodological rigor and reporting to account for heterogeneity in both humans and assistance dogs as well as continued high-quality replication. Public Library of Science 2020-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7710121/ /pubmed/33264370 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243302 Text en © 2020 Rodriguez et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Rodriguez, Kerri E. Greer, Jamie Yatcilla, Jane K. Beck, Alan M. O’Haire, Marguerite E. The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title | The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title_full | The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title_fullStr | The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title_full_unstemmed | The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title_short | The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review |
title_sort | effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: a systematic literature review |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7710121/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33264370 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243302 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT rodriguezkerrie theeffectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT greerjamie theeffectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT yatcillajanek theeffectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT beckalanm theeffectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT ohairemargueritee theeffectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT rodriguezkerrie effectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT greerjamie effectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT yatcillajanek effectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT beckalanm effectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview AT ohairemargueritee effectsofassistancedogsonpsychosocialhealthandwellbeingasystematicliteraturereview |