Psychiatric service dog placements are associated with better daily psychosocial functioning for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
Sarah C. Leighton, Kerri E. Rodriguez, Run Zhuang, Clare L. Jensen, Elise A. Miller, Arman Sabbaghi, Marguerite E. O’Haire
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: = 168 veterans with PTSD using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). METHOD: EMA data were collected twice daily for 2 weeks at each assessment period (0 and 3 months), totaling 9,408 survey responses (2 Assessments × 14 Days × 2 Prompts × 168 Participants). RESULTS: < .05), indicating possible support for anecdotes that public stigma is an obstacle to community participation. CONCLUSIONS: Results further revealed that the service dog's trained tasks may be particularly important for social functioning outcomes, and the service dog's presence for emotional functioning outcomes. Findings highlight a need for education surrounding service dog etiquette and reveal potential mechanisms underlying psychiatric service dog placements. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).