Crossman Molly K
Yale University.
J Clin Psychol. 2017 Jul;73(7):761-784. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22410. Epub 2016 Nov 3.
Human-animal interaction (HAI) is widely used as a method of reducing psychological distress. However, research findings in support of HAI have not kept pace with the widespread prevalence in practice.
I review and synthesize the quantitative evidence for the influence of HAI on psychological distress and outline future directions for research.
The evidence suggests that HAI has a small-to-medium effect on distress but does not clarify whether animals account for the treatment effects. Research also has not determined whether positive effects observed in circumscribed HAI programs extend to companion animal ownership.
HAI research needs to address methodological limitations and expand the focus beyond treatment outcome studies. By increasing our understanding of the processes through which HAI reduces distress, the circumstances under which it is most effective at doing so, and the influence HAI has on the animals, we can enhance the impact of HAI.
人与动物互动（HAI）被广泛用作减轻心理困扰的一种方法。然而，支持HAI的研究结果并未跟上其在实践中广泛普及的步伐。
我回顾并综合了关于HAI对心理困扰影响的定量证据，并概述了未来的研究方向。
证据表明，HAI对困扰有中小程度的影响，但并未阐明动物是否是治疗效果的原因。研究也尚未确定在特定的HAI项目中观察到的积极效果是否适用于伴侣动物的饲养。
HAI研究需要解决方法上的局限性，并将关注点从治疗结果研究扩展。通过增进我们对HAI减轻困扰的过程、其最有效减轻困扰的情况以及HAI对动物的影响的理解，我们可以增强HAI的影响力。
