Understanding the impact of Equine-Assisted Learning on levels of hope in at-risk adolescents.

Abstract

In this study, the researcher uses an experimental design to investigate the impact of five-week intervention of group Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) on levels of hope, self-efficacy, and depression in at-risk adolescents. A randomized, longitudinal, repeated measures method is utilized with a treatment group and a control group. Participants in the experimental group participated in a five-week equine-assisted intervention entitled Leading Adolescents to Successful School Outcomes (LASSO) in addition to receiving the regularly provided services of their school. Participants in the control group received only the regularly provided services of their school counselors. Analysis of variance was used to analyze the main effects of the treatment on measurements of hope, self-efficacy, and depression utilizing the Adolescent Domain-Specific Hope Scale (Frederick, 2011), the New Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (Chen et al., 2001), and the Major Depression Inventory (Bech, 1998; Bech et al., 2001). Data was collected pre- and post-intervention, as well as weekly during the intervention.