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Canine Therapy for Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Challenges

This study is testing a program called Recovery & Care Canine-Assisted Therapy for young people aged 8 to 18 who are living in residential treatment centers like Lawrence Hall or Lydia Home. This program involves 6 weekly sessions, each 1 hour and 15 minutes long, where you'll learn dog obedience and training skills with a dog and a trained handler. The study wants to see if this therapy can help improve emotion regulation, behavioral issues, and self-esteem. Some participants will receive this canine therapy, while others will continue with their usual care. The study will measure success by looking at changes in emotional responses and attention after the intervention. The current recruitment status is unclear.

Study design
This study plans to enroll 48 participants and compares a 6-week canine therapy program to usual care. It uses a longitudinal design, meaning participants are followed over time.
What's involved
If you participate in the canine therapy, you will attend 6 weekly sessions, each lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes. You must remain in residential care for the duration of the 6-week intervention.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Your emotional responses and attention will be measured up to one month after the intervention ends.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

NCT05840198

LH Canine Therapy Study

Recruiting
NAAges 8–18InterventionalTreatment
University of Chicago
~48 participants
Updated 2025-08-17 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Recovery & Care Canine-Assisted TherapyTreatment as usual

At a glance

Recruiting sites
2 of 2 listed sites are recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Emotional Stroop
Measured over Up to 1-month post-intervention
+6 more outcomes measured

Conditions

Emotion Regulation
Behavioral Disorder
Self Esteem

Explore related trials

Behavioral Disorder

Where it's being run

2 sites across 1 states
Illinois2

Who to contact

Kristen Jacobson, PhD
[email protected]
773-834-0265
Email the study team

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Youth must be receiving in-patient services at Lawrence Hall or Lydia Home
Youth must provide informed assent.
Youth must complete at least one of the primary outcomes during the baseline assessment.
Youth must remain in residential care for the duration of the 6-week intervention.
Youth assigned to the Recovery \& Care intervention group must attend at least one of the 6 sessions.

Exclusion

Severe cognitive, psychiatric, or physical condition or limitation that would prevent participation.
Severe animal allergy
Animal phobia
History of mistreatment of animals.

What this trial measures

  • Emotional StroopUp to 1-month post-intervention

    Computer-Assisted task assessing affect regulation

  • Change in Emotional StroopChange from baseline to up to 1-month post-intervention

    Computer-Assisted task assessing affect regulation

  • Flanker TaskUp to 1-month post-intervention

    Computer-Assisted task assessing attention \& inhibitory control

  • Change in Flanker TaskChange from baseline to up to 1-month post-intervention

    Computer-Assisted task assessing attention \& inhibitory control

  • Rosenberg Self-Esteem ScaleUp to 1-month post-intervention

    10-item self-report scale assessing self-esteem. Higher scores are better outcomes

  • Change in Rosenberg Self-Esteem ScaleChange from baseline to up to 1-month post-intervention

    10-item self-report scale assessing self-esteem. Higher scores are better outcomes

  • Change in Negative AffectChange from the beginning to the end of each of the 6 intervention session

    In addition to overall change in outcomes post intervention, we are also interested in whether each intervention session produces an immediate change in youth emotion. We will assess negative affect using 5 self-report items on current mood from positive and negative affect scale. Higher scores are worse outcomes.