The effect of animal-assisted intervention on Hong Kong adolescents’ well-being

Objectives: This is an empirical study to examine the effect of animal-assisted intervention on Hong Kong adolescents’ life meaning. Previous studies demonstrated that animal-assisted intervention (AAI) can improve ones’ self-efficacy, aspiration, and social relationship, and decrease the level of distress. It is worthy to investigate the extent that the strong vitality of stray animals can increase Hong Kong adolescents’ well-being as measured by life meaning, autonomy, relatedness and competence and can decrease their stress and depression. Methods: 80 participants joined the current study. They were randomly assigned into seminar group (control) or service group (experimental). The two groups received different levels of contact to stray and disable animals. Results: The results found that AAI increased adolescents’ positive affect and satisfaction of relatedness. Conclusion: AAI can be considered as a new way for delivering life education to increase adolescents’ well-being. All rights reserved.