Psychiatric service dog placements are associated with better daily psychosocial functioning for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

A visual abstract reporting findings from a published manuscript (https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/671095). We studied the emotional and social health of 168 veterans, with and without service dogs for posttraumatic stress disorder, directly in their daily lives. Veterans with service dogs had better emotional health and found social interactions more pleasant; they also had more activity participation but were less likely to leave home. This could be due to public stigma, suggesting education on service dog etiquette is needed. We found that using the dog’s trained tasks was particularly important for social health, and the dog’s presence for emotional health, shedding light on how service dog placements may lead to changes in veteran well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)