The other four studies reported no changes in participants mental health 3-months after receiving a mobility, hearing, or medical service dog [35], 4-months after receiving a mobility service dog [28], and 7-months after receiving a hearing or mobility service dog [32]. The electronic searches were performed on July 23, 2018, and updated on January 23, 2019. When reporting statistical results, 78% of studies (21/27) provided estimates of variability for outcomes, including confidence intervals, standard deviations, or standard error of the mean. [17] found better functioning among those with a mobility service dog compared to a control group. Plants lack a nervous system and therefore cannot be used to learn about psycho- logical phenomena. Our first aim was to describe study characteristics of the literature. Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, United States of America, Affiliation: Citation: Rodriguez KE, Greer J, Yatcilla JK, Beck AM, OHaire ME (2020) The effects of assistance dogs on psychosocial health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review. The remaining four longitudinal studies assessed participants 35 times with final follow-up ranging from 924 months after receiving an assistance dog. Using the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale [PIADS; 54], Vincent et al. Of the 100 null comparisons, 43 (43%) were from published papers and 57 (57%) were from unpublished theses. In the case of disagreements, inclusion or exclusion was resolved by discussion and consultation with a third independent reviewer (author MO). He is currently the chair of APAs Committee on Animal Research and Ethics. Unfortunately, many introductory textbooks dont give the full picture of animal research. Studies compared outcomes of individuals with an assistance dog to before they received the dog (six longitudinal studies), to participants on the waitlist to receive an assistance dog (five longitudinal and seven cross-sectional studies), or to participants without an assistance dog (eight cross-sectional studies). Importantly, unpublished theses had a similar average sample size as published studies, with similar power to detect effects compared to published studies. Experiments can take place to determine if a product or idea will work as intended. A majority of studies (18/27; 67%) assessed outcomes from mobility service dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. As the assistance dog itself is the key component of the intervention, details regarding the dogs breeding, rearing, selection, and training, as well as the assistance dog-handler matching process are critical to disentangling potential mechanisms [75]. To achieve the third aim of the reviewto summarize outcomespsychosocial outcomes within each study were extracted. Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. Two of the most well-known animal studies were conducted by Konrad Lorenz and Harry Harlow. However, more than half of all studies (16/27; 59%) had sample sizes greater than or equal to N = 50. However, these are relatively new categories of assistance dogs [2], many of which may also be self-trained [62], and it appears that emerging research on this population has centered on medical benefits [63] rather than psychosocial. The rationale for excluding qualitative studies from inclusion was to focus on outcomes using standardized measures to facilitate quantitative comparisons across studies. While there are no legal requirements specifying that an assistance dog must be certified, registered, or receive any specialized training to receive public access rights, independent organizations such as ADI, the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP), and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) define a set of minimum training and behavior standards for public access that help guide the assistance dog industry. We found that studies reported mostly psychological outcomes (74%), followed by social outcomes (67%), quality of life outcomes (70%), and vitality (26%) outcomes. Even if we accept evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved to be very different from most other animals, perhaps all other animals. However, 2 studies found worse occupational functioning in terms of employment, schooling, or homemaking. Assistance dog categories (guide, hearing, mobility, and medical) were collapsed for the purposes of this review, but undoubtedly contribute to the lives of individuals with disabilities in diverse ways. Increased research on this topic is likely in parallel with the increased roles and demands for different types of assistance dogs worldwide [2] as well as increased interest in the benefits of animal interaction for human health and wellbeing [60]. In addition, null findings were reported on standardized measures of family role 3-, 6-, and 12-months after receiving a mobility service dog [15], discrimination and social inclusion 12-months after receiving a mobility service dog [34], and family and social self-concept among mobility dog users compared to a control group [37]. Neither of these early reviews employed a formal methodological assessment of studies, but limitations were listed for each included study. However, when more than one few companies uses the same resources and provide competitive parity are also known as rare resources. Lorenz, animal studies of attachment: Lorenz's research investigates the Evolutionary Explanation of attachment suggesting that infants are pre-programmed to form an attachment from the second that they are born. Second, there is inherent variation in both the quality and quantity of interactions from one assistance dog-owner pair to the next. Importantly, only a few comparisons were made in the negative direction (2%) indicating that there is limited reason to believe that acquiring an assistance dog is associated with worse functioning. Therefore, due to observed heterogeneity, a meta-analysis was not pursued. found significantly lower depression and anxiety using the POMS and GHQ-30, respectively, 6-months after receiving a hearing dog [13]. The discussion section aims to review the findings from each aim and to provide targeted suggestions for future research. Using another measure of energy and fatigue, Craft [40] found no difference in those with or without a mobility service dog. In addition, reporting detailed information on assistance dogs allows for the consideration of the dogs as individual agents in the therapeutic process rather than as uniform tools [1, 74]. When human studies are presented, there is rarely discussion of the basic animal research that enabled those studies to be done. These studies were reviewed to complete three specific aims: to describe the key characteristics of studies, to evaluate the methodological rigor of studies, and to summarize outcomes. Using the Reintegration to Normal Living Index [RNLI; 59], Hubert found improvements in the ability to return to normal life after 7-months with a mobility service dog while Vincent et al. To examine the relationship between methodological rigor score and year of publication as well as sample size, bivariate correlations were performed. This is the result of a new study led by researchers at the University of Mannheim and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin Samples ranged from 15% male to 85% male, with an average of 42% male participants across all studies. See our A-Level Essay Example on The studies carried out by Milgram, Piliavin, Haney and Gardner & Gardner, have unearthed some very important as well as surprising details about human behaviour and experience which in nearly all situation affects it., Social Psychology now at Marked By Teachers. To describe study characteristics, extracted items included participant characteristics (sample size, age, gender, country of origin), assistance dog characteristics (type and provider), and details of the study (design, measurement time points, comparison conditions). In the 1950s research which used animal subjects to investigate early life experiences and the ability for organisms to form attachments contributed significantly to the field of developmental psychology. Of the 44 positive comparisons, 36 (82%) were from published papers and 8 (18%) were from unpublished theses. We found that most studies were conducted in either the United States or the United Kingdom, but there was international representation of the research in Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, and Japan. Animal research continues to play a vital role in psychology, enabling discoveries of basic psychological and physiological processes that are important for living healthy lives. However, Guest et al. The rhesus monkey connectome predicts disrupted functional networks resulting from pharmacogenetic inactivation of the amygdala. However, only 44% (12/27) of studies reported statistical values (e.g. Inability to draw cause-and-effect conclusions: The biggest disadvantage of naturalistic observation is that determining the exact cause of a subject's behavior can be difficult. Samples sizes ranged from 10 to 316 participants with an average sample size across all studies of N = 83 +/- 74 participants and a median sample size of N = 53. The most commonly studied type of assistance dog was mobility service dogs, followed by hearing dogs. If youve taken an introductory psychology class, then you have probably read about seminal psychological research that was done with animals: Skinners rats, Pavlovs dogs, Harlows monkeys. Human participants in these studies included those with hearing or visual impairments, diabetes, and seizure disorders. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243302, Editor: Geilson Lima Santana, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, BRAZIL, Received: July 22, 2020; Accepted: November 18, 2020; Published: December 2, 2020. Using the CHART, both Milan [41] and Davis [44] found no group differences in social integration among those with a mobility service dog control groups. Hall et al. Regarding emotional health, 7/15 (46%) outcomes were significant across group or condition. The CES-D asks participants to rate how often they had experienced 20 depressive symptoms in the prior week using statements such as I thought my life had been a failure, while the POMS asks participants to rate from not at all to extremely how they feel right now using single words such as sad and unhappy. It is also possible that some standardized measures do not capture the intended effects from having an assistance dog. The other five studies found no effect of having a mobility service dog [32], hearing dog [29, 32], or guide dog [38] on life satisfaction using SWLS. Study characteristics of N = 27 studies separated by longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, ordered by publication year. While results described positive effects of service dogs in terms of social, psychological, and functional benefits for their handlers, it was concluded that all 12 of the studies had weak study designs with limitations including lack of comparison groups, inadequate description of the service dog intervention, and nonstandardized outcome measures. 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. As research on the assistance animal-handler relationship continues to increase, there is a need for an updated, comprehensive collation of the literature encompassing studies on the effects of all varieties of assistance dogs (guide dogs, hearing dogs, and both mobility and medical service dogs) including both published studies and unpublished theses and dissertations. To compare methodological rigor by study design, an independent t-test was used to compare mean scores across longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. Research on non-human primates, for instance, continues to offer valuable perspectives into the causes and evolution of individual, social, and reproductive human actions. This practice was instrumental in our evolution and in the emergence of civilization. The authors found three studies reporting an association between having a seizure alert or response dog and improvements to quality of life and wellbeing, concluding a need for more research. A final potential reason for outcome discrepancies is variation in methodological rigor across studies. Most studies reported adequate detail on participant demographics such as age and sex or gender identity (23/27; 85%) as well as disability characteristics such as primary diagnoses or severity (22/27; 81%). Of 27 studies, 20 (74%) assessed a psychological outcome with a total of 24 different standardized measures. [17] found no difference among mobility service dog users compared to controls. Of 147 comparisons, 44 (30%) were positive (improved or better functioning in comparison to pre- or control conditions), 100 (68%) were null (no observed difference), and 3 (2%) were negative (decreased or worse functioning in comparison to pre- or control conditions). Interestingly, only one included study [16] assessed outcomes from participants under the age of 18. [32] found that participants reported worse occupational functioning 7-months after receiving a hearing dog while Davis [44] found that individuals with a mobility service dog reported worse occupational functioning compared to a control group. This research aimed to conduct a systematic assessment of the current state of knowledge regarding the potential benefits of assistance dogs on standardized outcomes of the health and wellbeing of individuals with disabilities. Studies are organized by design (longitudinal or cross-sectional). Secondly, many studies did not report sufficient detail in results in terms of estimates of variability and effect size. Visual display of methodological ratings for N = 27 studies ordered by the number of studies addressing each item. Four studies found no effect of having a hearing dog [29] or mobility service dog [39, 41] on the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Other null findings included no effect of having a guide dog on social conflict stress and interactions with others [42], no improvement in social relationships 12-months after receiving a mobility service dog, and null findings regarding self-reported friendship and companionship with a mobility or medical service dog [16] or 4-months after receiving a mobility service dog [28]. Promising areas include psychological wellbeing, emotional wellbeing, and social participation in which several positive outcomes were identified. In fact, nine new articles were identified (three theses, six publications) that had been published since the last review on this topic in 2012 [9]. Second, only 63% of studies described inclusion and/or exclusion criteria of recruited participants, and some studies did not report all demographic or disability characteristics of participants. In the sub-category of independence, a total of 20 comparisons were made in which 9 (45%) were significant, but 3 (15%) were in the negative direction. Guide dogs were only assessed in four studies (all of which were cross-sectional, and one of which was an unpublished thesis [46]). Our objective was to identify, summarize, and methodologically evaluate studies quantifying the psychosocial effects of assistance dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. Can you really generalise results from animals to humans? Regarding sleep, Guest found better self-reported sleep quality 3- and 12-months after receiving a hearing dog while Rodriguez et al. The most notable weaknesses included a lack of adequate reporting in the methodological sections, which not only limits interpretation of findings but prevents reproducibility. The three Rs are: Reduction, Refinement . Two studies found increased social participation 3-, 6-, and 12-months [15] as well as 7-months [33] after receiving a mobility service dog, while Donovan [28] found no change in social participation 4-months receiving a mobility service dog. In these studies, positive findings (i.e., better social functioning in those with an assistance dog compared to a control group) may be partially attributed to an unmeasured variable driving the group difference [77]. Other studies assessed outcomes from hearing dogs (7/27; 26%), guide dogs (4/27; 15%), and medical alert/response service dogs (2/27; 7%). Still, some harms will remain, and ethically, one must weigh those harms against the potential benefits (for humans and for the animals themselves) to be obtained from the research. Although outcomes from assistance dog placement for children and adolescents have been quantified with qualitative [e.g., 6971] and observational [e.g., 72] study designs, effects on standardized measures of psychosocial wellbeing including social functioning have not been explored. To be sure, each species has its own specializations that enable it to fit into its unique ecological niche; but common ancestry results in structural (e.g., brain) and functional (e.g., memory) processes that are remarkably similar between humans and nonhumans. Studies are often described without specifying that they were animal studies. In a few instances, they represent the only reasonable approach. Although this tendency occurs in many fields, the file-drawer bias may especially be prevalent in human-animal interaction research due to the preconceived notion that animals are beneficial for humans [80]. Articles were published from 19942018 with publication dates in the 1990s (5), 2000s (9), and 2010s (10) indicating an increasing publication rate on this topic over time. What are the disadvantages of being an animal behaviorist . Fig 2 displays the total scores across each of the 15 items, separated by introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections (see S2 Table for individual study scores). However, on different measures of social functioning Rodriguez et al. The authors concluded that although results are promising, conclusions drawn from the results must be considered with caution [9]. Studies made an average of 5.4 statistical comparisons on psychosocial outcomes, ranging from 115 comparisons. Regarding social participation, 14 comparisons were made in which 4/14 were significant (29%). In introduction sections, all studies described an objective, but only 17/27 (63%) of studies stated a directional hypothesis. Of 27 studies, 19 (70%) reported outcomes a quality of life measure with a total of 13 different standardized measures used. Neuron. For example, we know what the connections are between the amygdala and other brain regions, but how does activity in the amygdala affect brain functioning? Marguerite E. OHaire, Affiliation: Of 27 studies, 7 (26%) reported outcomes from at least one standardized measure of vitality with a total of five different standardized measures. Jane K. Yatcilla, Most studies (15/27; 56%) were conducted in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (6/27; 22%). [16] found higher emotional functioning in those with a mobility or medical service dog compared to a control group. Therefore, in the cases where positive outcomes were reported in these studies, it is unknown what amount of time with an assistance dog the finding was associated with (and therefore difficult to compare to findings from other studies). Research in the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) and assistance dogs is not only rapidly growing but is often disparately published across multidisciplinary journals and outlets. Nine studies assessed self-esteem as a primary outcome, with four studies [14, 32, 36, 46] finding a significant effect of having a guide, hearing, mobility, or medical service dog on self-esteem as measured by the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale [RSES; 53]. For example, organizations that place assistance dogs may have housing, familial, physical, or even financial requirements for potential recipients that should be subsequently reported in the manuscript to fully define the population. route finding, retrieving dropped items, alerting to a seizure), the assistance dogs companionship, emotional and social support, and social facilitation effects in public may be particularly salient to improving the quality of life of individuals with disabilities [79]. Lundqvist et al. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a United States law, an assistance dog must do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability in order to receive public access rights [4]. In methods sections, only 16/27 (59%) of studies indicated whether ethical approval for conducting human subjects research was sought and received. purpose-bred from a provider, self-trained) and breeds (e.g., Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Mixes). https://assistancedogsinternational.org/resources/adi-terms-definitions/, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00120-8, https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/study-quality-assessment-tools, https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/specialist-unit-for-review-evidence/resources/critical-appraisal-checklists, Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions. The third aim of the review was to summarize psychosocial outcomes of studies. In total, 147 comparisons were made across the 27 studies that examined the effect of having an assistance dog on a standardized scale or sub-scale on a psychosocial outcome: 58 (39%) psychological outcomes, 43 (29%) social outcomes, 34 (23%) quality of life outcomes, and 12 (8%) energy/vitality outcomes. The three Rs. Further, as researchers increasingly incorporate standardized outcome measures into this research, collating and pooling findings will allow researchers to compare outcomes across different populations and interventions while estimating the magnitude of effects across domains. The final sample included 24 articles (12 peer-reviewed publications, 12 unpublished theses/dissertations) containing 27 individual studies. Future research is necessary to determine if in fact some measures are inappropriate to measure change following an assistance dog, which may be addressed using interviewing and focus group techniques among assistance dog handlers. Ten years from now, students may very well read in their textbooks about a new treatment to help people with Parkinsons disease. In the next sub-category, six studies assessed life satisfaction outcomes using Satisfaction with Life Scale [SWLS; 57]. Another early review published by Sachs-Ericsson and colleagues in 2002 [8] summarized 14 quantitative studies on both standardized and nonstandardized outcomes following mobility service dog or hearing dog placement (omitting guide dogs). of Agriculture, and, at the local level by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs). As the field of animal-assisted intervention is multidisciplinary, a wide and extensive search was conducted encompassing medical and scientific databases. Service dogs can assist individuals with physical disabilities (e.g. Grey literature was addressed by searching ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) and WorldCatDissertations and hand searching the abstracts of the International Society for Anthrozoology and International Association of Human Animal Interactions Organizations conferences. After receiving an assistance dog, individuals retrospectively report increases to their social, emotional, and psychological health [e.g., 1012]. The principle disadvantage with animal experiments is the problem of generalisability. In terms of general vitality and energy, four studies used the SF-36 to measure the effect of having an assistance dog on the vitality domain. Part of the justification for why nonhuman animals are studied in psychology has to do with the fact of evolution. Overall, studies addressed an average of 62% of methodological consideration items with a range of 23% (3/13) to 100% (15/15; denominators were variable as there were two items not applicable to all study designs). [15] found improvements to daily work activities 3- and 12-months after receiving mobility service dog (but not in self-care or dealing with life events). Of 1,830 records screened, 24 articles were identified (12 publications, 12 theses) containing 27 studies (15 cross-sectional, 12 longitudinal). However, a recent 2018 review summarized five published quantitative studies describing outcomes from seizure alert and seizure response service dogs. However, other studies reported no relationship between having a mobility service dog and self-esteem via the RSES [39, 41] or other standardized measures of self-esteem [15, 28, 36]. This systematic review summarized the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of owning an assistance dog (including service, guide, hearing, and/or medical alert or response dogs) on standardized outcomes of psychosocial health and wellbeing of individuals with disabilities. [35] found higher health-related quality of life 3-months after receiving a mobility, hearing, or medical service dog on one of three measures used [EuroQol Visual Analog Scale; 56].
disadvantages of animal studies in psychology