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Review
. 2025 Apr 14:1-14.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.2025.8. Online ahead of print.

Dog-assisted interventions for children and adults with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions: systematic review

Emily Shoesmith  1 , Sophie Hall  2 , Amanda Sowden  3 , Heidi Stevens  1 , Jodi Pervin  1 , Jenny Riga  1 , Dean McMillan  1 , Daniel Mills  4 , Chris Clarke  5 , Qi Wu  1 , Selina Gibsone  6 , Elena Ratschen  1
Affiliations
Review

Dog-assisted interventions for children and adults with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions: systematic review

Emily Shoesmith et al. Br J Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Dog-assisted interventions (DAIs) to improve health-related outcomes for people with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions are becoming increasingly popular. However, DAIs are not based on robust scientific evidence.

Aims: To determine the effectiveness of DAIs for children and adults with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions, assess how well randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are reported, and examine the use of terminology to classify DAIs.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted in Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. RCTs were grouped by commonly reported outcomes and described narratively with forest plots reporting standardised mean differences and 95% confidence intervals without a pooled estimate. The quality of reporting of RCTs and DAIs was evaluated by assessing adherence to CONSORT and the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) guidelines. Suitability of use of terminology was assessed by mapping terms to the intervention content described.

Results: Thirty-three papers were included, reporting 29 RCTs (with five assessed as overall high quality); a positive impact of DAIs was found by 57% (8/14) for social skills and/or behaviour, 50% (5/10) for symptom frequency and/or severity, 43% (6/14) for depression and 33% (2/6) for agitation. The mean proportion of adherence to the CONSORT statement was 48.6%. The TIDieR checklist also indicated considerable variability in intervention reporting. Most DAIs were assessed as having clear alignment for terminology, but improvement in reporting information is still required.

Conclusions: DAIs may show promise for improving mental health and behavioural outcomes for those with mental health or neurodevelopmental conditions, particularly for conditions requiring social skill support. However, the quality of reporting requires improvement.

Keywords: Canine-assisted interventions; dog-assisted interventions; mental health conditions; neurodevelopmental conditions; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PRISMA diagram of paper selection process
Figure 2
Figure 2. Risk of bias graph: review authors’ judgements about each risk of bias item presented as percentages across all included studies.
Figure 3a
Figure 3a. Forest plot for comparison of depression at longest follow-up
Figure 3b
Figure 3b. Forest plot for comparison of social skills/behaviour at longest follow-up
Figure 3c
Figure 3c. Forest plot for comparison of symptom frequency/severity at longest follow-up
Figure 3d
Figure 3d. Forest plot for comparison of agitation at longest follow-up
Figure 4
Figure 4. Graphical presentation of CONSORT compliance per item and by diagnosis category
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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