Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2018
Preliminary efficacy of service dogs as a complementary treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder in military members and veterans.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
55 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mass spectrometry-based proteomics profiling of dogs with and without oral diseases: a systematic review.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Towards a better understanding of work participation among employees with common mental health problems: a systematic realist review.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Pooled it
- Assistance dogs for military veterans with PTSD: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Reintegration interventions for CPTSD: a systematic review.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2021Pooled it
- Psychiatric service dog placements are associated with better daily psychosocial functioning for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2024Trial
- The cortisol awakening response in a 3 month clinical trial of service dogs for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- An Exploratory Assessment of Service Dog Training for the Treatment of Military Members with Posttraumatic Stress: A Pre-post Interventional Trial.Archives of rehabilitation research and clinical translation · 2026Article
- Responses to Aversive Acoustic Stimuli in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Moderation by the Presence of a Service Dog in Training.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- Psychiatric Assistance Dogs for Adults with Mental Health Conditions: Use, Perceived Effectiveness and Challenges.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Service Dog Training Interventions for Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress: Examining Gender-Based Differences in Psychosocial Outcomes.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- 'It's not just changed my dad's life, it changed ours too': Adult children's perspectives of PTSD assistance dogs.Journal of military, veteran and family health · 2026Article
- Veterans with Service, Emotional Support, and Companion Dogs: Examining the Relationship Between Demographics, Health Characteristics, and Intensity of Human-Dog Relationships.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Veterans Training Service Dogs for Other Veterans: An Animal-Assisted Intervention for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- An exploratory investigation of psychosocial effects of service dogs on veterans' families from the perspective of family members.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- PTSD assistance dogs: concerns for animal well-being, rights, and justice.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Review
- Service Dogs for Veterans and Military Members With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A State-of-the-art Review.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Review
- The influence of service dog partnerships on perceived and objective sleep quality for military veterans with PTSD.Frontiers in sleep · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePsychiatric service dogs are an emerging complementary treatment for military members and veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet despite anecdotal accounts of their value, there is a lack of empirical research on their efficacy. The current proof-of-concept study assessed the effects of this practice.
methodA nonrandomized efficacy trial was conducted with 141 post-9/11 military members and veterans with PTSD to compare usual care alone (n = 66) with usual care plus a trained service dog (n = 75). The primary outcome was longitudinal change on The PTSD Checklist (PCL; Weathers, Litz, Herman, Huska, & Keane, 1993), including data points from a cross-sectional assessment and a longitudinal record review. Secondary outcomes included cross-sectional differences in depression, quality of life, and social and work functioning.
resultsMixed-model analyses revealed clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms from baseline following the receipt of a service dog, but not while receiving usual care alone. Though clinically meaningful, average reductions were not below the diagnostic cutoff on the PCL. Regression analyses revealed significant differences with medium to large effect sizes among those with service dogs compared with those on the waitlist, including lower depression, higher quality of life, and higher social functioning. There were no differences in employment status, but there was lower absenteeism because of health among those who were employed.
conclusionThe addition of trained service dogs to usual care may confer clinically meaningful improvements in PTSD symptomology for military members and veterans with PTSD, though it does not appear to be associated with a loss of diagnosis. (PsycINFO Database Record
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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.