CAP: Canine-assisted Psychotherapy Motivation Alliance

Sponsor

University of Basel (Other)

Overall Status

Not yet recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT05384808

Collaborator

(none)

150

Enrollment

Arms

Anticipated Duration (Months)

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The aim of the study is to investigate the needed extent and the way a dog is integrated into psychotherapeutic interventions for them to be motivating and alliance building for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders aged 9 to 17 years old. Specifically, we want to elaborate if the dog needs to be integrated into the therapy in a form that it is part of the therapeutic context or if the presence of the dog without being part of the therapeutic context per se is beneficial.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Motivation Alliance, Therapeutic	Behavioral: Standard Psychotherapy Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog actively integrated. Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog passively integrated.	N/A

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Anticipated Enrollment :

150 participants

Allocation:

Randomized

Intervention Model:

Parallel Assignment

Masking:

Single (Participant)

Primary Purpose:

Treatment

Official Title:

Effects of the Inclusion of a Dog in Psychotherapy on Children's Alliance and Treatment Motivation

Anticipated Study Start Date :

Jun 1, 2022

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Apr 1, 2023

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Apr 1, 2023

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: No dog present Conventional psychotherapy with no dog being present.	Behavioral: Standard Psychotherapy Participants receive a standard psychotherapy session with no dog being present.
Experimental: Dog present and active part of therapeutic narrative. The dog is actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.	Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog actively integrated. A dog is present and actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.
Experimental: Dog present but not active part of therapeutic narrative. The dog is present but not actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.	Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog passively integrated. A dog is present but not actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: No dog present

Conventional psychotherapy with no dog being present.

Behavioral: Standard Psychotherapy

Participants receive a standard psychotherapy session with no dog being present.

Experimental: Dog present and active part of therapeutic narrative.

The dog is actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.

Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog actively integrated.

A dog is present and actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.

Experimental: Dog present but not active part of therapeutic narrative.

The dog is present but not actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.

Behavioral: Canine-assisted psychotherapy with dog passively integrated.

A dog is present but not actively integrated into the therapeutic narrative.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Therapeutic alliance of patients [9 weeks]
Patient's reported therapeutic alliance is measured after the first, the third and the fifth therapy session of a newly began psychotherapy using the german adaptation of the "Therapeutic Alliance Scales for Children" (TASC)". The TASC consists of 12 items, answered with a 4 point likert scale. The questionnaire assesses the therapeutic alliance from the perception of the child. Four weeks after the fifth therapy session children will be asked to fill in the questionnaire again as follow-up measurement.
Motivation of patients [9 weeks]
Patient's reported motivation is measured after the first, the third and the fifth therapy session of a newly began psychotherapy using the "Situational Motivation Scale for children (SMS-15)". The SMS-15 consists of 15 items answered with a 7 point likert scale. Four weeks after the fifth therapy session, children will be asked to fill in the questionnaire again as follow-up measurement.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Treatment satisfaction of patients [4 weeks]
Treatment satisfaction of children is measured after the fifth therapy session as well as four weeks after as follow up using the "treatment assessment questionnaire (FBB)". The FBB consists of 20 items answered with a 5 point likert scale.
Number of missed sessions [5 weeks]
Number of missed sessions and drop-outs will be documented for each child participating in the study.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

9 Years to 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Inclusion Criteria:

Age between 9 and 17 years
Children are seeing the therapist for the first time
Basic knowledge of child and parents in either German or English to be able to fill in questionnaires
Informed consent given by legal guardian
Positive or neutral attitude towards dogs

Exclusion Criteria:

acute psychosis; early childhood autism
fear of dogs
allergic reactions to dogs
reported aggressive behavior towards animals in the past

Contacts and Locations

Locations

No locations specified.

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of Basel

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

Dr. Karin Hediger, Prof. Dr. Karin Hediger, University of Basel

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT05384808

Other Study ID Numbers:

2022-00304

First Posted:

May 20, 2022

Last Update Posted:

May 20, 2022

Last Verified:

May 1, 2022

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of May 20, 2022