Table 1. Summary of outcomes from studies included.

Author; year	Type of disorder	Mediation	Study outcome of AATa	Conclusion
Shih and Yang [20]; 2023	Psychiatric disorder	Therapeutic	Mental Health–Social Functioning Scale, Social Adaptive Function Scale, Taiwanese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life	Social functioning was significantly higher in the experimental group;quality of life improved
Chen et al [21]; 2022	Psychiatric disorder	Therapeutic	Montreal Cognitive Assessment, chair stand test, Timed Up and Go, 5-min walk test, Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills	Significant improvements in communication and interpersonal skills; improved lower extremity strength and social functions
Allen et al [22]; 2022	Stress and anxiety	Activating	Service Satisfaction Scale, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index for DSM-5, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Moods and Feelings Questionnaire, Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders	Improvements in caregiver-reported PTSDb symptoms, internalizing concerns, and externalizing problems
Chen et al [23]; 2021	Psychiatric disorder	Therapeutic	Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales Assessment, and Chinese Happiness Inventory	Decrease in stress in the AAT group more than in the control group
Anderson and Brown [24]; 2021	Stress and anxiety	Supportive	STAIc	Decreased anxiety in a convenience sample
Thakkar et al [25]; 2020	Stress and anxiety	Activating	Modified faces version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale	Effective behavior management strategy for children
Santaniello et al [26]; 2020	Neurological disorder	Therapeutic	MMSEd, GDSe	AAT showed an improvement in both cognitive function and mood
Brown et al [27]; 2019	Psychiatric disorder	Therapeutic	Wilcoxon signed rank test	Positive therapeutic impact on patients and staff in acute care psychiatric units, promoting positive mood and emotions
Hinic et al [28]; 2019	Stress and anxiety	Activating	STAI for Children	Reduce anxiety in hospitalized children and enhanced family satisfaction
Ginex et al [29]; 2018	Depression	Supportive	Patient Health Questionnaire–4	Promotes a healing environment for patients that involves a holistic and humanistic perspective
Priyanka MB [30]; 2018	Neurological disorder	Therapeutic	Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist and semistructured interview for 15 min	Improved expression and communication skills when interacting with the dog, as well as noticeable enhancements in social and motor abilities
McCullough et al [31]; 2017	Stress and anxiety	Supportive	STAI	Help in reducing stress and anxiety levels
Branson at al [32]; 2017	Stress and anxiety	Supportive	STAI for Children, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children	Increase positive feelings in hospitalized children
Nurenberg et al [5]; 2015	Psychiatric disorder	Therapeutic	Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, equine-assisted psychotherapy, canine-assisted psychotherapy	Effective therapeutic modality for long-term psychiatric patients at risk of violence
Stefanini et al [33]; 2015	Psychiatric disorder	Supportive	Children Global Assessment Scale	Significant improvements in overall functioning, a decrease in the need for specialized care, and an increase in regular school attendance
Menna et al [34]; 2015	Neurological disorder	Therapeutic	MMSE, 15-item GDS	Improved cognition and mood through repeated multimodal stimulation

^aAAT: animal-assisted therapy.

^bPTSD: posttraumatic stress disorder.

^cSTAI: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

^dMMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination.

^eGDS: Geriatric Depression Scale.