Animal-assisted activities: effects on subjective well-being of elderly women attending a day care service

作者：Antoneli E^*; Cusinato E

来源：Giornale di Gerontologia, 2012, 60(4): 215-223.

• Animal-assisted activities
• Subjective well-being
• Elderly

Background. In psychological literature many factors are known to be associated with elderly subjective well-being, but there are limited studies on animalassisted interventions. The aim of this longitudinal study was to assess whether a program of Animal-assisted Activities (AAA) had favorable effects on affective state, satisfaction with life, and memory in elderly women attending a day care service. %26lt;br%26gt;Method. 16 women without cognitive impairment no or mild cognitive impairment (assessed by Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) -were randomly assigned to a control group (n = 8) or to an AAA group (n = 8) that met once a week for two months. Both groups, were administered the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS), the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWSL), and the memory tests of the Benessere e Abilita Cognitive (BAC, Well-being and Cognitive Abilities) battery. A follow-up was carried out in the AAA participants at four months from the end of the AAA. Pre-and post-intervention scores were compared by Student%26apos;s t-test. %26lt;br%26gt;Results. The AAA group showed a significant increase in positive emotions and a significant decrease in negative emotions that were maintained over the four month following. In this group there were no significant differences in pre-and post-intervention memory scores, with exception of one score that increased, while for the control group, memory scores decreased. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions. AAA is effective in improving subjective well-being and, in part, memory function of elderly women attending a day care service.

• 出版日期2012-8