Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) have shown significant benefits for promoting psychological and social well-being across different populations. However, their application among children exposed to domestic violence and living in residential care remains underexplored in Portugal. This exploratory, descriptive, and cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the effects of an AAI program on the well-being of children and adolescents living in a shelter, as well as on the perceptions of their mothers.
The sample included seven children/adolescents (aged 8-18 years) and five mothers (aged 18-50 years). Data were collected through a sociodemographic questionnaire and the KIDSCREEN-10 (child/adolescent version) and KIDSCREEN-52 (parent version) scales, administered before and after the intervention, following informed consent.
Findings revealed normative global health-related quality of life scores at both assessment points for children and mothers, with a tendency for higher post-test scores in most dimensions. Despite the inability to perform pre-post statistical comparisons due to sample loss, descriptive analyses suggest that AAI may serve as a complementary psychosocial strategy that enhances emotional stability and well-being among children exposed to violence. These preliminary findings highlight the potential of AAI as a humanizing and integrative intervention approach in the promotion of recovery and resilience in vulnerable child populations.