동물매개중재 프로그램이 지적장애 아동의 사회적 기술과 뇌기능 지수에 미치는 효과

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine the effects Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) with companion dogs have on the brain function index and social skills development of children with intellectual disabilities. To accomplish this, we selected 32 children with intellectual disabilities, between the third and sixth grade, in a special school in the Goyang City. This experiment was completed throughout 12 sessions—40 minutes once a week. A total of 32 children were divided with experimental group (n=16) and control group (n=16); while in the control groups, we did not execute AAI. To examine the effectiveness of the program, participants’ pre-and post-treatment scores were measured by both brain function index (through brain wave) and the Social Skills Scale (SSC); they were then compared to each other. Furthermore, to analyze the differences between two groups about moderating the effect, we executed a t-test on the brain function index. The results of this study were as follows: First, in social skills, there were meaningful effects in all social skills (as well as cooperation, assertion, and self-control—all subfactors of social skills). Second, in the brain function test, there were meaningful effects in self-control index (attention), attention index (right brain), and activity index. Through these results, we verified that AAI is effective in both the development of brain function index and social skills of children with intellectual disabilities. This study is meaningful because AAI provided an Application validity of development of both the brain function index, as well as the social skills of children with intellectual disabilities during the intervention activities.