Enhancing emotion regulation and recognition among first graders through animal-assisted group training

Abstract

in comparison to a respective control group. Twentyseven students, 11–14 years of age, participated in the program. The animal-assisted training, conducted by a multi-professional team, took place in school on a weekly basis. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program regarding emotional competences, results on research parameters such as emotion regulation and emotion recognition were evaluated. The mentioned indicators were obtained from the treatment and control groups before and after training. The SEE (Skalen zum Erleben von Emotionen Behr & Becker, 2004), a questionnaire designed to analyze how people perceive and deal with their own emotions, was used to measure emotional competences. Additionally, self-esteem and well-being of the participants were integrated using the SPPC-D (Self-Perception Profile for Children Asendorpf & Aken, 1993). The data was analyzed by means of statistical inference procedures. Improvements were found on various indicators of emotional competences among the participant group. It was shown that the adolescents developed greatly in their regulation of emotions (t(41) 5 4.765, P , 0.001, d 5 1.49). They also learned how to better accept their own emotions and not be ashamed of them (t(36) 5 2.239, P 5 0.016, d 5 0.75). Concerning emotion recognition, they were able to reduce the instances of lack of emotions (t(36) 5 1.842, P 5 0.037, d 5 0.61) and establish an improved interpretation of body-related signals (t(37) 5 3.416, P , 0.001, d 5 1.12). Self-esteem and well-being of the participants also underwent significant positive changes during the training. The results of this study indicate that the dog-assisted group training improves the emotional competences of the participants, especially concerning emotion regulation and recognition. In addition, positive effects on self-esteem and well-being of the students were shown. The present study was able to demonstrate that MTI contributes to health promotion and helps young people develop essential life skills.