The Effectiveness of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy in Adolescents with Serious Emotional Disturbances

Abstract

ABSTRACTAdolescents with serious emotional disturbances (SED) are a particularly difficult population to treat owing to high comorbidity rates of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and behavioral conduct disorders. The current study compared the effectiveness of equine-facilitated psychotherapy (EFP) and traditional group therapy (TGT) on levels of positive and negative affect in adolescents with SED. We hypothesized that participants would have higher overall positive affect after EFP compared with TGT and that negative affect would be significantly lower after EFP compared with TGT. Adolescents with SED participated in EFP and TGT sessions once a week over an 8-week period in addition to normative treatment. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale was administered immediately before and after the sessions. Statistical analyses revealed that EFP was just as effective as TGT in increasing positive affect and decreasing negative affect. More importantly, participants had significantly higher positive affect before and after EFP compared with TGT. Even though positive affect scores improved in both therapies, participants arrived to and left EFP with significantly higher positive affect scores than those attending TGT. Owing to its effect on positive affect, EFP may be a beneficial alternative to traditional therapies for adolescents with SED.