Interactions between Handler Weil-Being and Canine Health and Behavior in Search and Rescue Teams.
This study reports on three years of prospective, longitudinal data on the psychological well-being of the human handlers and the health and behavior of the search and rescue dogs deployed in New York City and Washington, DC in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Eighty-fiv...
| Publicado en: | Anthrozoös Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 323 - 336 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep2012
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=78435016&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 78435016 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 08927936 GZF jtl: Anthrozoös issn: 08927936 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2012 vid: 25 iid: 3 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 78435016 10.2752/175303712X13403555186253 ppf: 323 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: Interactions between Handler Weil-Being and Canine Health and Behavior in Search and Rescue Teams. aug: au: Hunt, Melissa Otto, Cynthia M. Serpell, James A. Alvarez, Jennifer affil: Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, USA School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA VA Palo Alto Health Care System, California, USA su: New York (State) Terrorism Asians Black people Mental depression Psychological distress Hispanic Americans Human-animal relationships Interviewing Pets Post-traumatic stress disorder Psychological tests White people Well-being Dogs Research methodology Research funding Psychological resilience sug: subj: Terrorism Asians Black people Mental depression Psychological distress Hispanic Americans Human-animal relationships Interviewing Pets Post-traumatic stress disorder Psychological tests White people Well-being New York (State) All Other Animal Production Live animal merchant wholesalers Pet and Pet Supplies Stores All other miscellaneous animal production Dogs Research methodology Research funding Psychological resilience keyword: canine search and rescue depression PTSD terrorist attacks canine search and rescue depression PTSD terrorist attacks ab: This study reports on three years of prospective, longitudinal data on the psychological well-being of the human handlers and the health and behavior of the search and rescue dogs deployed in New York City and Washington, DC in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Eighty-five human handlers (63 deployed and 22 controls) and ninety- four dogs (66 deployed, 28 controls) were assessed at multiple time points including 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years after the 9/11 attacks. Humans were assessed for psychological health by structured clinical interview and self-report. Dogs were assessed for physical health and behavior by veterinary records and handler report. For humans, deployment after 9/11 did indeed represent a relatively short-term risk factor for developing symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). By and large, however, the sample showed remarkable resilience as a whole, and overall rates of DSM-IV diagnoses were quite low. By year 3, 9/11 deployment no longer conferred any special risk. On the other hand, long-term employment in an emergency profession did emerge as a significant risk factor for symptoms of PTSD by year 3. With respect to the interaction between handler emotional well-being and canine health and behavior, we found that physical illness and/or death in the dog was prospectively associated with greater symptoms of depression in the handler. We also found that symptoms of depression and PTSD in the handlers prospectively predicted behavioral problems in the dogs over time. Separation anxiety, attachment/attention seeking, chasing, and excitability emerged in the dogs at 1 year. Behavioral problems escalated to aggression towards other dogs at year 2 and separation anxiety, aggression towards other dogs, and aggression towards strangers at year 3. Like any relationship, the partnership between a handler and his or her working dog can confer both protection-when the relationship is going well and both members are healthy-and vulnerability-when either member is physically ill or psychologically or behaviorally distressed. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|