disadvantages of animal studies in psychology

disadvantages of animal studies in psychology

APA 2023 registration is now open! Of five studies using a version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale [55] only Yarmolkevich [46] found significantly lower self-reported loneliness in those with a guide dog compared to a control group. If small rodents are incapable of feeding, they will die within hours - it is highly likely that many substances would not be toxic if a simple sugar solution was injected. One of the first reviews published by Modlin in 2000 [7] summarized nine published quantitative and qualitative studies on the benefits of guide dogs, hearing dogs, and mobility service dogs on their handlers (omitting unpublished theses). In fact, nine new articles were identified (three theses, six publications) that had been published since the last review on this topic in 2012 [9]. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a United States law, an assistance dog must do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability in order to receive public access rights [4]. Studies are often described without specifying that they were animal studies. Studies are organized by design (longitudinal or cross-sectional). However, none of the four studies using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D; 52] found significant differences in self-reported depression among those with a mobility service dog compared to a control group [3941] or after 4-months with a mobility service dog [28]. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they assessed outcomes from guide, hearing, medical, or mobility service dogs, if they collected original data on handlers psychosocial functioning, and if the outcome was measured quantitatively with a validated, standardized measure. However, other studies reported no relationship between having a mobility service dog and self-esteem via the RSES [39, 41] or other standardized measures of self-esteem [15, 28, 36]. Research has indicated that beyond the physical or tangible benefits that an assistance dog is trained to provide (e.g. The final sample included 24 articles (12 peer-reviewed publications, 12 unpublished theses/dissertations) containing 27 individual studies. Copyright: 2020 Rodriguez et al. To describe study characteristics, extracted items included participant characteristics (sample size, age, gender, country of origin), assistance dog characteristics (type and provider), and details of the study (design, measurement time points, comparison conditions). Of 15 cross-sectional studies that surveyed individuals who owned assistance dogs for variable periods of time, 4/15 studies (27%) considered length of time of assistance dog ownership as a potential explanatory or moderating variable in analyses. [45] found higher health-related quality of life among those with a mobility service dog compared to a control group, but not among those with a hearing dog. Probably not, in much the same way that nonhuman research that permitted a significant human study to be conducted is rarely described in todays textbooks. Beyond the functional tasks that assistance dogs are trained for, there is growing literature describing their benefits on the psychosocial health and wellbeing of their handlers. A study such as this not only helps us better understand how the brain works, but it also has enormous potential for developing treatments for people who have abnormal patterns of brain activity, such as those with epilepsy or Parkinsons disease. Compared to those on the waitlist, individuals with an assistance dog report better psychosocial functioning and wellbeing [16, 17]. However, three studies collapsed analyses across several types of assistance dogs and impairments. Similarly, Crudden et al. He received his PhD in comparative psychology from the University of California at Davis in 1982, and was a postdoctoral researcher in developmental psychobiology in the department of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Of 27 studies, 15 were cross-sectional and 12 were longitudinal. Of the 44 positive comparisons, 36 (82%) were from published papers and 8 (18%) were from unpublished theses. In longitudinal studies, the first follow-up time point varied from 3- to 12-months after receiving an assistance dog. Kerri E. Rodriguez, Articles were published from 19942018 with publication dates in the 1990s (5), 2000s (9), and 2010s (10) indicating an increasing publication rate on this topic over time. The principle disadvantage with animal experiments is the problem of generalisability. A final potential reason for outcome discrepancies is variation in methodological rigor across studies. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted across seven electronic databases. Dr. The research community tries to mitigate some of the harms by insuring, for example, that the animals psychological well-being is optimized; in fact, there is a large body of psychological research that focuses on animal welfare and identifying best practices to house and care for animals in captivity. An analysis of 147 statistical comparisons across the domains of psychological health, quality of life, social health, and vitality found that 68% of comparisons were null, 30% were positive in the hypothesized direction, and 2% were negative. Therefore, future efforts should be made to publish null findings in peer-reviewed journals and to encourage scientific transparency [80]. found significantly lower depression and anxiety using the POMS and GHQ-30, respectively, 6-months after receiving a hearing dog [13]. The five studies which found that pet owners were less depressed had, on average, many fewer participants (Mean = 401 subjects ) than the studies that found no difference in depression rates (Mean . Importantly, unpublished theses had a similar average sample size as published studies, with similar power to detect effects compared to published studies. What are the disadvantages of being an animal behaviorist . alerting or responding to medical crises such hypoglycemia or seizures), and individuals with mental health disorders (e.g. Inability to draw cause-and-effect conclusions: The biggest disadvantage of naturalistic observation is that determining the exact cause of a subject's behavior can be difficult. Of 27 studies, 18 (67%) reported outcomes a standardized measure of social health with a total of 18 different standardized measures. As mentioned above, a surprisingly high number of studies did not ensure that assistance dog and control groups were statistically equal across demographic and disability characteristics prior to outcome analyses. As a final consideration, it is possible that assistance dogs may not confer significant psychosocial benefits as quantified by some of the standardized measures used. Many times animals have been tested on a drug and the drug was considered not harmful. The authors concluded that although results are promising, conclusions drawn from the results must be considered with caution [9]. Center for the Human-Animal Bond, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America, Current address: Human-Animal Bond in Colorado, School of Social Work, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America, Affiliation: However, it should be noted that this study by Allen & Blascovich has received considerable critique due to incredibly large effect sizes, unrealistic retention and response rates, and severe methodological omissions including a lack of reporting on recruitment, funding, or where assistance dogs were sourced and trained [despite repeated requests for clarification; 64, 65]. A majority of studies (18/27; 67%) assessed outcomes from mobility service dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. To be sure, each species has its own specializations that enable it to fit into its unique ecological niche; but common ancestry results in structural (e.g., brain) and functional (e.g., memory) processes that are remarkably similar between humans and nonhumans. However, due to large heterogeneity and poor reporting of effect sizes and raw data, a narrative synthesis of findings in comparison to unpublished theses and published articles was pursued instead. [17] found an effect of having an assistance dog on mental health. The below discussion considers various potential explanations for the inconsistencies in findings across studies. Many scientists study animal behavior because it sheds light on human beings. As the field of animal-assisted intervention is multidisciplinary, a wide and extensive search was conducted encompassing medical and scientific databases. Studies compared outcomes of individuals with an assistance dog to before they received the dog (six longitudinal studies), to participants on the waitlist to receive an assistance dog (five longitudinal and seven cross-sectional studies), or to participants without an assistance dog (eight cross-sectional studies). As with every experimental methodology, there are disadvantages to using animals in experiments. Regarding social participation, 14 comparisons were made in which 4/14 were significant (29%). In one example, four studies included in this review failed to find significant results in comparisons of depression using the CES-D [28, 3941]. However, results suggested that for most outcomes, having an assistance dog had no effect on psychosocial health and wellbeing. A total of 1,830 records were screened via title and abstract in which 1,576 records were excluded due to irrelevancy (see Fig 1 for PRISMA diagram). In introduction sections, all studies described an objective, but only 17/27 (63%) of studies stated a directional hypothesis. Therefore, due to observed heterogeneity, a meta-analysis was not pursued. After removing duplicate articles in EndNote following a validated protocol [23], articles were screened based on their title and abstract. In addition, we can better understand fundamental processes because of the precise control enabled by animal research (e.g., living environments, experimental conditions, etc.). Nine studies assessed self-esteem as a primary outcome, with four studies [14, 32, 36, 46] finding a significant effect of having a guide, hearing, mobility, or medical service dog on self-esteem as measured by the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale [RSES; 53]. In addition to poor methodological reporting, many studies were restrained by statistical weaknesses. The three Rs. Other countries where studies took place included Canada (3), Japan (2), New Zealand (1), and Sweden (1). The other five studies found no effect of having a mobility service dog [32], hearing dog [29, 32], or guide dog [38] on life satisfaction using SWLS. Only Vincent et al. Thus, this pattern may be better explained by the file drawer effect in which there is a bias towards publishing positive findings over null findings [79]. Our first aim was to describe study characteristics of the literature. Grey literature was addressed by searching ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) and WorldCatDissertations and hand searching the abstracts of the International Society for Anthrozoology and International Association of Human Animal Interactions Organizations conferences. Although this tendency occurs in many fields, the file-drawer bias may especially be prevalent in human-animal interaction research due to the preconceived notion that animals are beneficial for humans [80]. Advantages And Disadvantages Of Case Studies Psychology Essay. Summary of social outcomes across studies ordered by sub-category, then by standardized measure. Of 12 total vitality comparisons, 6 (50%) were positive (improved or better vitality in comparison to pre- or control conditions), 6 (50%) were null (no difference) and zero (0%) were negative (decreased or worse vitality in comparison to pre- or control conditions). One author argued that an important methodological issue is the absence of appropriate measures in measuring the effect of an assistance dog on recipients lives [32]. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they met the following criteria: (1) The study population consisted of current or prospective owners/handlers of an assistance dog (including service, guide, hearing, and/or medical alert or response dogs) with a physical disability or chronic condition in which the assistance dog is trained to do work or perform tasks directly related to the disability or condition [4]; (2) The study collected original data on the effect of the assistance dog on their handler with at least one psychosocial outcome, including those quantifying aspects of mental health, social health, and health-related quality of life; and (3) The psychosocial outcome(s) were collected via a standardized measure tested for validity and reliability. Study characteristics of N = 27 studies separated by longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, ordered by publication year. See our A-Level Essay Example on The studies carried out by Milgram, Piliavin, Haney and Gardner & Gardner, have unearthed some very important as well as surprising details about human behaviour and experience which in nearly all situation affects it., Social Psychology now at Marked By Teachers. Unfortunately, many introductory textbooks don't give the full picture of animal research. Our second aim was to evaluate the methodological rigor of studies. The complete MEDLINE search strategy, which was adapted for the other databases, is shown in S1 Table. Our objective was to identify, summarize, and methodologically evaluate studies quantifying the psychosocial effects of assistance dogs for individuals with physical disabilities. While there are no legal requirements specifying that an assistance dog must be certified, registered, or receive any specialized training to receive public access rights, independent organizations such as ADI, the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP), and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) define a set of minimum training and behavior standards for public access that help guide the assistance dog industry. Research in the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) and assistance dogs is not only rapidly growing but is often disparately published across multidisciplinary journals and outlets. In results sections, 15/21 studies with a control or comparison condition (71%) demonstrated that participants in each condition were comparable on demographic variables. Records were independently screened by two authors. Animal research continues to play a vital role in psychology, enabling discoveries of basic psychological and physiological processes that are important for living healthy lives. Summary of quality of life outcomes across studies ordered by sub-category. In addition, the scientist must justify the numbers of animals that they use, insuring they are using the smallest number possible. In addition to the different human and dog phenotypes that contribute to this heterogeneity, there are likely differences in the strength of the human-animal bond and attachment relationships formed between assistance dogs and handlers [19, 76]. Two of the most well-known animal studies were conducted by Konrad Lorenz and Harry Harlow. He is the former associate director for research at the Primate Center, a past president of the American Society of Primatologists, a recipient of the Patricia R. Barchas Award in Sociophysiology from the American Psychosomatic Society, a fellow of several professional societies, and in 2012, he received the Distinguished Primatologist Award from the American Society of Primatologists. [43] found that individuals who had guide dogs reported less stress while walking, but not while using public transportation. Study designs included both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, with only one randomized longitudinal study identified [14]. Apprehension around burgeoning medical research in the late 1800s and the first half of the 20 th century sparked concerns over the use of humans and animals in research , .Suspicions around the use of humans were deepened with the revelation of several exploitive research projects, including a series of medical . Importantly, only a few comparisons were made in the negative direction (2%) indicating that there is limited reason to believe that acquiring an assistance dog is associated with worse functioning. Exclusion criteria were then used to select articles based on the following (in order): (1) irrelevant to study topic; (2) assessed an excluded study population (psychiatric service dogs, therapy dogs, emotional support dogs, or companion dogs); (3) did not report quantitative outcomes from assistance dog placement (literature reviews, instrument development, not original research); (4) reported unrelated outcomes (puppy raising, service dog training, or animal-related outcomes); (5) reported only non-psychosocial outcomes (medical or physical); (6) methodological exclusions (qualitative, case studies, single-subject design); (7) no full text available. (2017, January 1). Future research is necessary to determine if in fact some measures are inappropriate to measure change following an assistance dog, which may be addressed using interviewing and focus group techniques among assistance dog handlers. Subjectivity Researchers working with dolphins and primates have been criticised for becoming overly attached to the research and exaggerating findings. Finally, in discussion sections, most studies (22/27; 81%) stated at least two limitations of their study. A more recent systematic review published by Winkle and colleagues in 2012 [9] summarized 12 published quantitative studies on both standardized and nonstandardized outcomes following mobility service dog placement (omitting guide dogs, hearing dogs, and unpublished theses). Limitations The main reason why they are inaccurate is because of the huge differences between humans and animals. In particular, not only did studies vary largely in terms of sample size, but they also varied in the manner in which statistical analyses were conducted. Methodological rigor also did not significantly correlate with year of publication (r = 0.327, p = 0.096) nor total sample size (r = 0.258, p = 0.194). Capitanio, J. However, only 44% (12/27) of studies reported statistical values (e.g. Six comparisons were made to measure the effect of having an assistance dog on clinical measures of depression or anxiety. Unfortunately, many introductory textbooks dont give the full picture of animal research. Breakthroughs include the development of many antibiotics, insulin therapy for diabetes, modern anesthesia, vaccines for whooping cough and other diseases, the use of lithium in mental health treatments, and the discovery of . Studies assessed the effects of mobility (18), hearing (7), guide (4), and medical (2) assistance dog partnerships with an average sample size of N = 83. [16] found that those with a mobility or medical service dog reported significantly higher work/school functioning than a control group. Of 5 studies that used the mental health domain of the SF-36 or the shorter 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), only Shintani et al. Register for the early bird rate. Therefore, future studies are warranted that specifically assess health and wellbeing using validated parent-proxy or self-report measures to fully understand the potential effects that assistance dogs can have on children and adolescents with disabilities. Of 1,830 records screened, 24 articles were identified (12 publications, 12 theses) containing 27 studies (15 cross-sectional, 12 longitudinal). Neuron. Lack of control: Another downside is that the experimenter cannot control for outside variables. However, a recent 2018 review summarized five published quantitative studies describing outcomes from seizure alert and seizure response service dogs. Ironically, those animals that are likely to be the best models for psychopathology are also likely to be considered the . Hall et al. Jane K. Yatcilla, Using the Profile of Mood States Scale [POMS; 51], Guest found increased self-reported vigor 3- and 12-months after receiving a hearing dog and less fatigue 3-months after receiving a hearing dog. We found that most studies were conducted in either the United States or the United Kingdom, but there was international representation of the research in Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, and Japan. This pattern suggests a potential publication bias present in which disproportionately more positive findings are in the published studies than the unpublished theses [78]. Our search procedure identified 24 articles containing 27 studies assessing psychosocial outcomes from a wide variety of human and assistance dog populations. To summarize study outcomes, extracted items included statistical comparisons for any psychosocial outcomes from included studies. The search strategy was adapted to the other databases, including mapping terms to each databases thesaurus or prescribed vocabulary, as appropriate. A total of 30% of comparisons made were positive in which having an assistance dog was associated with improved psychosocial functioning among individuals with disabilities. [32] found that participants reported worse occupational functioning 7-months after receiving a hearing dog while Davis [44] found that individuals with a mobility service dog reported worse occupational functioning compared to a control group. Moderator analyses will be useful in determining the potential explanatory effects that handler-service dog relationships have on psychosocial outcomes. Experiments can take place to determine if a product or idea will work as intended. Marguerite E. OHaire, Affiliation: Ethical Considerations and Advances in the Understanding of Animal Cognition. To achieve the first aim of the reviewto describe study characteristicswe extracted several features of from each study and article (Table 1). But, was then later tested on a human and the human died. Even if we accept evolutionary psychology, humans have evolved to be very different from most other animals, perhaps all other animals. Additionally, research suggests the relationship between an assistance dog and its owner may also serve as a reciprocal attachment and caregiving relationship characterized by secure and strong attachments [18, 19]. An iterative, multi-stage trajectory for developing animal models and assessing their quality is proposed. Six studies used standardized measures to assess general health and health symptoms, three of which [17, 28, 35] reported null findings on the general health domain of the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey [SF-36; 47]. Inconsistencies in findings were discussed in terms of wide variability in assessment times, interventions, measures, and rigor, and recommendations were made to contribute to the knowledge of this growing application of the human-animal bond. Another potential explanation for inconsistent findings across studies lies in the inherent variability of the assistance dog intervention itself. To compare methodological rigor by study design, an independent t-test was used to compare mean scores across longitudinal and cross-sectional designs. First, there may be ceiling effects present whereby individuals are functioning at initially healthy levels of the measured construct (e.g., depression, self-esteem) prior to receiving an assistance dog and thus may not significantly improve on these measures. Overall, studies addressed an average of 62% of methodological consideration items with a range of 23% (3/13) to 100% (15/15; denominators were variable as there were two items not applicable to all study designs). The most commonly studied type of assistance dog was mobility service dogs, followed by hearing dogs. Methodological weaknesses including poor reporting of assistance dog interventions and statistical limitations prevent any clear conclusions made regarding the psychosocial effects of assistance dogs on individuals with disabilities. However, even within a single category, there are differences in assistance dog breeds, temperaments, and training that may significantly contribute to observed variance across studies. Two studies found increased social participation 3-, 6-, and 12-months [15] as well as 7-months [33] after receiving a mobility service dog, while Donovan [28] found no change in social participation 4-months receiving a mobility service dog. The lack of guide dog-specific research is especially surprising given that guide dogs not only have the longest history of any type of assistance dog [61] but are also the most commonly placed assistance dog placed by professional facilities worldwide [2]. Researchers who study nonhumans recognize that their studies may involve certain harms that can range from the relatively minor (e.g., drawing a blood sample) to the more serious (e.g., neurosurgery). [32] reported no relationship between the mobility domain and having a service dog or hearing dog. Disadvantages of animal studies in psychology, are the finest-quality pictures of lovely, adorable animals that we have gathered for you and Friend. Neither of these early reviews employed a formal methodological assessment of studies, but limitations were listed for each included study. [35] found higher health-related quality of life 3-months after receiving a mobility, hearing, or medical service dog on one of three measures used [EuroQol Visual Analog Scale; 56]. Humans share common ancestry with the species most commonly studied in psychology: mice, rats, monkeys. Of the 100 null comparisons, 43 (43%) were from published papers and 57 (57%) were from unpublished theses. The scientific rigor of each study was rated according to a 5-level system while the methodological quality of each study was scored on a 7-point scale. After the initial title and abstract review, articles were screened based on full text. Lethality as a side-effect - mortality in animals is often the result of lack of food and water, and is not only the primary effect of the substance being studied. This practice was instrumental in our evolution and in the emergence of civilization. Jamie Greer, For full functionality of this site, please enable JavaScript. The electronic searches were performed on July 23, 2018, and updated on January 23, 2019. Using a different measure of emotional functioning, Rodriguez et al. Using the Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale [PIADS; 54], Vincent et al. Samples sizes ranged from 10 to 316 participants with an average sample size across all studies of N = 83 +/- 74 participants and a median sample size of N = 53. The most common provider organizations represented were Canine Companions for Independence (CCI; six mobility service dog studies), Paws with a Cause (four mobility service dog studies), and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People (HDDP; four hearing dog studies). However, increasingly modern methods allow the 3R principle of reducing, refining and replacing animal experiments to be put into practice . Animal experimentation, also called animal testing, has contributed to many important scientific and medical discoveries. A main weakness of animal studies is that animals have a different physiology to humans. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. As Serpell and colleagues point out, individuals that dont benefit from animal-assisted interventions may be just as informative from a scientific perspective as the ones that do, and the entire field potentially suffers when these sorts of contrary or ambiguous findings get buried or ignored [74]. In the mobility domain, only Milan [41] found a significant effect of having a mobility service dog on the CHART mobility domain (which includes hours per day out of bed and days per week out of the house) while Davis [44] and Rintala et al. Purdue University Libraries, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, United States of America. Therefore, the current literature is limited to correlational, rather than causal conclusions regarding the benefits of assistance dogs on the psychosocial health of their owners. To examine the relationship between methodological rigor score and year of publication as well as sample size, bivariate correlations were performed. This poses a severe threat to the validity of findings as group differences in outcomes could be caused by underlying differences in certain demographics or characteristics and cannot be confidently attributed to the presence of the assistance dog. The process of animal model building, development and evaluation has rarely been addressed systematically, despite the long history of using animal models in the investigation of neuropsychiatric disorders and behavioral dysfunctions. In terms of emotional functioning, two studies found positive results using the SF-36 role emotional domain; Lundqvist et al. However, these are relatively new categories of assistance dogs [2], many of which may also be self-trained [62], and it appears that emerging research on this population has centered on medical benefits [63] rather than psychosocial.

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