Parents’ Perspectives on the Benefits of Animal-Assisted Intervention: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Animal-assisted intervention is widely used in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders. The aim of this review is to understand the perceptions of parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders, regarding the benefits of their children's participation in animal-assisted intervention. Using the PRISMA methodology, a search was conducted in the Web of Science and ProQuest Central databases. The number of articles included in the review was 23 after applying the selection criteria. The results indicate that in all interventions carried out with children with neurodevelopmental disorders, parents perceive improvements in their children mainly at the physical, social and emotional levels. In addition, they identify positive aspects that influence family functioning. It can be concluded that these types of interventions, regardless of the type of animal or activity, are a beneficial tool when addressing different symptoms associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, having an impact not only on the child or adolescent, but also on parents or caregivers.