Influence of Attitudes, Formative and Biographical Background on Intention of Use of Animal-Assisted Interventions Developed with Dogs. Some Conclusions on a Sample of Romanian Students

IntroductionAnimal assisted interventions (AAI) have been defined as "A goaldirected intervention designed to promote improvement in physical, social, emotional and/or cognitive functioning of the person(s) involved and in which a specially trained animal-handler team is an integral part. AAI (Animal Assisted Intervention) is directed and/or delivered by a practitioner with specialized expertise and within the scope of practice of his/her profession" (Animal Assisted Intervention International, n.d.). Animals included in AAI range from domestic pets (such as cats) to wild animals (such as reptile or amphibians), although dogs and horses represent the most frequent options (Lopez-Cepero, Rodriguez-Franco, Perea-Mediavilla, Blanco et al., 2014; Marino, 2012). AAI yield on the benefits demonstrated by human-animal interaction (HAI) in order to enhance outcomes associated with professional practice. Previous literature supports different benefits regarding physiological functioning (improvements of biological correlates to stress responses, such as the decrease of cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine, and the increase of oxitocine segregation; Barker, Knisley, McCain, Schubert, & Pandurangi, 2010; Beetz, Uvnas-Moberg, Julius, & Kotrscal, 2012), emotional wellbeing (Barker & Wollen, 2008) and social interaction (O'Haire, 2010). Interest on HAI benefits has gathered a progressive attention on last decades (Hosey & Melfi, 2014), and they are expected to gain a stronger presence in fields such as psychology and anthropology in the following years (Amiot & Bastian, 2015). Many authors have highlighted some weaknesses that are frequent in available literature on AAI, such as the high presence of anecdotal reports when assessing intervention programs (Kazdin, 2010; Marino, 2012) and the existence of a clear gap among professional practice and research (LopezCepero et al., 2014). However, different meta-analytic reviews have shown AAI to be effective in a variety of contexts and groups: people with emotional disorders (Nimer & Lundhal, 2007; Souter & Miller, 2007), autistic spectrum disorders (Nimer et al., 2007) and recovering from surgery and/or hospitalization (Halm, 2008), among others. In sum, AAI have so far demonstrated their utility, although more controlled research on their outcomes and efficiency is still required.AAI have started to receive an increasing attention in Romania, specially under the umbrella term Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). Among principal milestones of this development we can cite the foundation of the Research Institute of human-animal interaction (ICIOA) in 2012, as an initiative of the Faculty of Psychology and Sciences of Education, BabesBolyai University Cluj-Napoca in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca and Zoological Garden from Turda, Romania. Some literature can also be found, regarding human-animal interaction (Rusu, 2012; first edition 2008) and the improvements of social skills associated to AAT among children with autism (Grigore & Rusu, 2013; 2014), and some non-profit organizations devoted to AAT have been created (i.e. Dog Assist Association). However, AAT are still far from being ingrained as a regular intervention option, not being included (to the best of our knowledge) in any courses of social or health graduate studies (although some post-graduate specialization is already available). Positive attitudes towards AAI have been found in prior studies carried out in other countries. Quantitative studies have consistently found positive attitudes among current and training professionals such as social workers (Risley-Curtiss, 2010), occupational therapists (Velde, Cipriani, & Fisher, 2005), mental health workers (Berget, Ekeberg, & Braastad, 2008; Berget & Grepperud, 2011; Berget, Grepperud, Aasland, & Braastad, 2013; Black, ChurHansen, & Winefield, 2011) and university students of different professional fields (Lopez-Cepero, Perea-Mediavilla, Tejada, & Sarasola, 2015; PereaMediavilla, Lopez-Cepero, Tejada, & Sarasola, 2014). …