An Animal-Assisted Education Intervention with Dogs to Promote Emotion Comprehension in Primary School Children—The Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Children’s understanding of the nature, causes, and regulation of emotions represents a crucial developmental competence, as it improves the quality of peer interactions and increases educational success. This study presents an animal-assisted education intervention model with dogs to promote emotion comprehension in a group of children aged 6–7 years. Children who benefitted from the intervention improved their emotion comprehension compared to children who did not benefit from it. This improvement may be due to the beneficial role of relationships with companion animals, as they seem to positively affect social and emotional development in children, as well as enhancing their social competence, emotion regulation, and empathy. Further psychological processes which may have influenced the positive outcomes achieved are the group dynamics and role model offered by the relationship between the dog and the zootherapist veterinarian. ABSTRACT: Emotion comprehension (EC) is a crucial competence for children, as it determines the quality of peer interactions. This study assessed the efficacy of an animal-assisted education (AAE) intervention with dogs based on the Federico II Model of Healthcare Zooanthropology (FMHZ) to promote EC in a group of primary school children. One hundred and four children (48 females) aged 6–7 years took part in the study, of whom 63 participated in the AAE intervention (i.e., experimental group) and 41 did not (i.e., control group). The intervention was deployed in a school setting through a group format and consisted of five bimonthly sessions. EC was assessed pre- and post-intervention, and at a 3-month follow-up. Student’s t-test and mixed-model ANOVA were performed to analyze the effect of the intervention on EC. EC significantly improved in children of the experimental group compared to the control group. Significant time effects from pre- to post-intervention, post-intervention to follow-up, and pre-intervention to follow-up assessment were found in the experimental group only. AAE based on FMHZ was effective in improving EC in children.