Previous Trauma Impacts Human Behavior During Equine Assisted Services
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Date
2024-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The National Council for Behavioral Health estimates that 70% of adults have experienced some type of trauma in their lifetime. Trauma can be broadly categorized as psychological trauma (e.g., witnessing a death) or physiological trauma (e.g., traumatic brain injury). Symptoms of trauma may include anxiety, depression, and avoidance of associations to trauma. Recent research suggested that participation in Equine Assisted Services (EAS) may reduce trauma symptoms in various populations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of previous trauma on human behavior during EAS. Participants (n = 36; 18-55 yr) completed the Posttraumatic Checklist for DSM-V (PCL-5) to assess previous psychological trauma and The Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification (OSU TBI-ID) to assess previous physiological trauma. Participants completed four consecutive, weekly 30-minute sessions with an equine of their choice at The Ohio State University Equine Facility. Each session was video recorded to quantify behaviors using scan sampling every 30 s. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED of SAS v 9.4. No differences were observed in the frequency of standing behavior between trauma groups or sessions (p > 0.05). However, participants with both previous psychological and physiological trauma were observed walking more frequently during sessions compared to participants with no previous trauma or only psychological or physiological trauma (p < 0.05). Similarly, participants with both psychological and physiological trauma were observed touching the equine more often compared to participants with no previous trauma or only psychological or physiological trauma (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that human behavior during EAS may be influenced by an individual’s previous trauma and these behaviors may influence the interactions between humans and equine during EAS sessions and subsequent outcomes.
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Keywords
Trauma, Equine Assisted Services, Human Animal Interaction, Behavior, Mental Health