ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2017
The Efficacy of Dog Assisted Therapy in Detained Drug Users: A Pilot Study in an Italian Attenuated Custody Institute.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drop-out rates in animal-assisted psychotherapy - Results of a quantitative meta-analysis.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Integrated Canine-Assisted Services and Art Therapy in Prison: Pilot Study of Animal Well-Being Aspects and Its Impact on Inmate Critical Events.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Equine-assisted coaching in formerly incarcerated men with histories of substance abuse: a 12-week exploratory study of anger regulation, quality of life, human-horse synchrony, and equine behavior.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Dog ownership for people with substance use disorder: self-reported influence on substance use and mental health.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2025Article
- The Experience of Prisoners with Serious Mental Disorders Participating in a Dog-Assisted Therapy Program: A Qualitative Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Cognitive and physiological impacts of psychotherapy incorporating human-equine interactions during substance withdrawal: A scoping review.Journal of equine rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Exploring dog ownership in the lives of people with substance use disorder: a qualitative study.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2023Article
- A transdiagnostic meta-analysis of acute augmentations to psychological therapy.Nature. Mental health · 2023Article
- Effects of a Dog-Assisted Social- and Emotional-Competence Training for Prisoners: A Controlled Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Efficacy of Animal-Assisted Therapy in Patients with Dual Diagnosis: Schizophrenia and Addiction.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Research of Standardized Protocols for Dog Involvement in Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
- Cortisol Levels of Shelter Dogs in Animal Assisted Interventions in a Prison: An Exploratory Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Effects of Dog-Based Animal-Assisted Interventions in Prison Population: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Drug addiction is a major care and safety challenge in prison context. Nowadays, rehabilitation and specific therapeutic programs are suggested to improve health and well-being of inmates during their detention time and to reduce substance abuse relapse after release from prison. Among these programs, several studies reported the benefits for inmates coming from animal assisted interventions. In this pilot controlled study, we investigated the efficacy of a dog assisted therapy program addressed to 22 drug addicted male inmates housed in an attenuated custody institute in Italy. The study lasted six months, the treated group (12 inmates) was involved once a week for one hour in 20 dog assisted therapy sessions, whereas the control group (10 inmates) followed the standard rehabilitation program. One week before the beginning and one week after the end of the sessions, all inmates involved were submitted to symptom checklist-90-revised and Kennedy axis V. Inmates involved in the dog assisted therapy sessions significantly improved their social skills, reducing craving, anxiety and depression symptoms compared to the control group. Despite the limitation due to the small number of inmates enrolled and to the absence of follow up, we found these results encouraging to the use of dog assisted therapy as co-therapy in drug addicted inmates rehabilitation programs, and we claim the need of more extensive study on this subject.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.