Virtual Equine-assisted Therapy (iEAT) to Reduce Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Symptoms

Abstract

Depression, anxiety, and stress reduce the functions of people and lead to inconvenience in life. These symptoms were proved to be successfully alleviated through equine assisted therapy (EAT) which requires physical involvement. Unfortunately, in some circumstances where physical activities are restricted, such therapy is not possible. To overcome such shortfall, this paper attempted to compare the similarity of the traditional EAT with newly developed online equine assisted therapy (iEAT) implementing imagery techniques. A website was designed, represented the virtual (iEAT). Fifty non-clinical participants volunteer to participate and attended three different conditions, i.e., online, traditional and relaxation (control). Depression, anxiety, and stress - 21 (DASS-21) was used to measure the level of depression, anxiety, and stress for pre- and post-treatment. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed that iEAT and EAT can be used to reduce the symptoms similarly. iEAT could represent the alternative to traditional EAT reduce the depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Such alternative is important, especially during certain circumstances such as the pandemic today and cost-effective selection.