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Assessing Mechanisms of Anxiety Reduction in Animal-assisted Interventions

NCT03249116 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 75

Last updated 2020-10-08

Study results available
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Summary

Adolescence and young adulthood is a critical period for the development of social anxiety, which is often linked to other mental health challenges such as depression, mood disorders, and substance abuse. Initial evidence suggests that interacting with animals can reduce stress and anxiety, but no research has tested whether this benefit extends to adolescents at risk for social anxiety disorder. Additionally, researchers and clinicians do not understand what mechanism is responsible for anxiety reduction in animal-assisted interventions (AAIs). Therefore, the objectives of this study are to explore the specific mechanisms by which interacting with a therapy dog reduces anxiety, and to test whether such an interaction reduces anxiety in adolescents with varying levels of social anxiety.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

animal-assisted intervention

Interaction with a therapy dog

OTHER

active control

Interaction with a stuffed dog

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Tufts University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Megan K Mueller, PhD · Tufts University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
13 Years
Max Age
17 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2017-10-01
Primary Completion
2019-09-01
Completion
2019-09-01

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03249116 on ClinicalTrials.gov