Table 1.
Behavioural outcomes (in percentage of observed time during a therapy session).
| Behaviour | Control M% (SD) | AAT M% (SD) | b | 95% CI | df | F-value | p-value | ICC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total social behaviour | 8.68 (8.85) | 29.22 (15.66) | 20.47 | 18.32–22.62 | 1;421.00 | 351.51 | <0.001* | 0.21 |
| Total verbal communication | 19.04 (20.24) | 25.40 (19.44) | 6.32 | 3.77–8.86 | 1;420.91 | 23.76 | <0.001* | 0.57 |
| Verbal active | 6.31 (8.80) | 13.65 (11.21) | 7.30 | 5.87–8.73 | 1;421.12 | 100.76 | <0.001* | 0.44 |
| Verbal reactive | 13.51 (13.52) | 11.02 (11.20) | −2.44 | −3.91–−0.98 | 1;407.86 | 10.81 | 0.001* | 0.67 |
| Total non-verbal interactiona | 5.26 (7.09) | 31.94 (17.54) | 26.65 | 24.29–29.01 | 1;421.53 | 492.65 | <0.001* | 0.12 |
| Gaze | 10.40 (12.76) | 52.89 (21.22) | 42.42 | 39.26–45.58 | 1;421.95 | 694.51 | <0.001* | 0.08 |
| Body movement | 4.33 (10.24) | 28.37 (19.98) | 24.06 | 21.36–26.77 | 1;421.40 | 306.35 | <0.001* | 0.18 |
| Physical contact | 1.53 (9.70) | 18.32 (18.50) | 16.84 | 14.19–19.49 | 1;421.16 | 156.10 | <0.001* | 0.09 |
| Positive emotion | 3.75 (4.57) | 6.95 (7.47) | 3.24 | 2.28–4.19 | 1;409.10 | 44.44 | <0.001* | 0.36 |
| Negative emotion | 0.59 (2.05) | 0.31 (1.34) | −0.27 | −0.58–0.04 | 1;409.14 | 2.85 | 0.09 | 0.09 |
| Neutral emotion | 94.20 (6.60) | 92.73 (7.64) | −2.97 | −3.97–−1.97 | 1;409.10 | 33.91 | <0.001* | 0.34 |
AAT: animal-assisted therapy, M: mean in % of observed time (aadjusted for possible parallel behaviour), SD: standard deviation, d: coefficient indicating difference in percentages (effect size), CI: confidence interval, df: degrees of freedom (numerator; denominator), ICC: Intraclass correlation coefficient, *statistically significant.