Research
My research focuses on:
Examining the role of human-animal interaction in enhancing human health and wellness.
Understanding the influence of service dogs on biopsychosocial outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
Growing the empirical evidence base underlying the complimentary intervention of service dog partnership.
Identifying the unique factors that contribute to a successful partnership between a person and service dog.
Scroll to see a snapshot of my research to date.
Service Dog Partnerships
-
Social experiences of service dog partners
Service dogs can and do positively impact their human partners' social wellbeing. However, many teams still face stigma, discrimination, and access denials. This publication puts strong data behind these challenges, highlighting contributing factors and, importantly, proposed solutions.
-
Service dogs for veterans and service members with PTSD
Service dog partnerships may be an effective complementary intervention for military members and veterans with PTSD. Service dog partnership significantly predicted lower PTSD symptoms, 66% lower odds of clinician PTSD diagnosis, lower anxiety and depression, and better psychosocial functioning in nearly every outcome area assessed.
-
Review and meta-analysis: service dogs for veterans with PTSD
Systematic literature review and meta-analysis of 41 articles (29 peer-reviewed, 12 dissertations) encompassing 1,765 veteran and 1,200 canine participants. Demonstrated that assistance dog placement is associated with a significant, large, clinically meaningful improvement in military-connected PTSD symptoms.
-
Momentary experiences of veterans with service dogs for PTSD
After analyzing data from 9,400+ ecological momentary assessment (in-the-moment) surveys, we found veterans with service dogs for PTSD experience better social interaction quality, more positive emotions, fewer negative emotions, and lower odds of a panic attack.
-
Service dogs for autism
We interviewed 50 caretakers of children involved in a service dog program and found that impacts extend to the whole family. Service dogs are not only a highly individualized intervention for the autistic child, they can also help decrease stigma and build resilience for the family as a whole.
-
Service dogs for PTSD and veteran sleep
Service dog partnerships were associated with significantly better sleep when measured subjectively, but not when measured via actigraphy. Out of 155 veterans, 81 in the service dog group had significantly lower fear of sleep, better self-reported sleep quality, fewer sleep disturbances, and 55% lower odds of nightmares. Fear of sleep partially mediated the estimated effect of service dog partnership on PTSD severity.
General Human-Animal Interaction
-
Researcher-practitioner collaboration
Research in the field of human-animal interaction usually involves partnership between researchers and practitioners. By entering into the collaboration process thoughtfully, both parties can jointly advance and elevate the field of human-animal interaction.
-
Survey of human-animal bond research centers
In the last 5 years, there has been a 31% increase in academic centers focused on the human-animal bond. The specialty area of these centers’ directors has shifted from veterinary to human focus.
-
Animal-assisted interventions for military families
Animal-assisted interventions have recently emerged for military families. Research from 9 articles identified potential benefits to communication, relational bonds, and psychosocial well-being.