Behavior Coding of Adolescent and Therapy Dog Interactions During a Social Stress Task.

ABSTRACT: Youth mental health interventions incorporating trained therapy animals are increasingly popular, but more research is needed to understand the specific interactive behaviors between participants and therapy dogs. Understanding the role of these interactive behaviors is important for supporting both intervention efficacy and animal welfare and well-being. The goal of this study was to develop ethograms to assess interactive behaviors (including both affiliative and stress-related behaviors) of participants and therapy dogs during a social stress task, explore the relationship between human and dog behaviors, and assess how these behaviors may vary between experimental conditions with varying levels of physical contact with the therapy dog. Using video data from a previous experimental stud

SUBMITTER: Dowling-Guyer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11680360 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature