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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1490122
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental Health of Vulnerable Groups: Predictors, Mechanisms, and Interventions View all 21 articles
A Bibliometric Study for Global Hotspots and Trends in Animal-Assisted Interventions (1983-2023)
Provisionally accepted- 1 Faculty of Physical Education, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
- 2 Department of Physical Education, shanghai maritime university, shanghai, China
- 3 Department of Sports Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 4 Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 5 Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
AbstractBackground: As a therapeutic approach, Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI) has gained increasing recognition for enhancing both psychological and physical health. However, bibliometric studies in this field remain scarce. Methods: This study aims to analyze AAI-related research from 1983 to 2023 using bibliometric methods. It examines sources of literature, core journals, highly cited documents, country and institutional distribution, prolific authors, and high-frequency keywords while tracking the evolution of research themes in AAI. A thematic search using the Boolean operator "OR" and AAI-related keywords in the Web of Science database yielded 405 articles, and data mining and visualization of these results were performed. Results: The findings reveal a substantial increase in the number of published articles and citations over the past decade, indicating a rising research interest in this field. The United States and Purdue University have played a leading role in this area. Currently, AAI research is shifting from basic studies to intervention strategies targeting specific populations and diseases. Future research trends may include enhanced international collaboration, standardization of research methods, and the development of more targeted interventions. Conclusion: These findings provide researchers, funding agencies, and policymakers with scientific insights and recommendations for future research directions in AAI.
Keywords: Animal-assisted Interventions1, bibliometrics2, research trends3, nonpharmacological therapies4, vulnerable groups5
Received: 16 Oct 2024; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Feng, Zhao, ZHANG, YI, Chen and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xinding Zhang, Faculty of Physical Education, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, 571 158, Hainan Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.