Assessing the impact of an animal-assisted intervention for jail inmates.

The rate of serious psychological distress among jail inmates (26.4%) is significantly higher than the rate (5%) among the general adult population. The current study is an exploration of the psychosocial impact of an animal assisted intervention (AAI) for men incarcerated in a Texas jail. Participants (N = 17) completed weekly measures of depression, anxiety, PTSD, self-esteem, loneliness, and resilience at Time 1 and Time 2, five weeks later. Dependent sample t-tests were run to test the hypothesis that there are significant differences in participant responses between their first and last week in the AAI program. Analyses revealed significant reductions in PCL-C (t (df = 16), 3.030, p =.008) and CESD (t (df = 16), 1.738, p =.101) scores when comparing the first and last week in the program. An additional dependent samples t-test was run over individuals who had clinically significant scores (moderate to severe) for each measure. These analyses revealed even stronger effects on PCL-C scores (t (df = 8), 4.498, p =.002) and GAD-7 scores (t (df = 8), 2.622, p =.031). Successful completion of the AAI program led to significantly lower symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]