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ABSTRACT
The present review assessed the current knowledge regarding caregiver- training effectiveness for human and human-canine dyads. Most canine-related sources (66%; n = 19) were case studies reporting a decrease of learner undesired behavior when using oral instruction (21%; n = 6). Most human-related research used single-case designs (57%; n = 26) reporting an increase in desired learner behavior (22%; n = 10) when caregivers received multi-component training packages (17%, n = 8). The meta-analysis (n = 18) revealed that interventions had a large effect (Hedges’ g = 0.88, 95%CI [0.68–1.07]), with packages yielding a slightly larger moderate effect (Hedges’ g = 0.76, 95%CI [0.60–0.91]) than oral instruction alone (Hedges’ g = 0.74, 95%CI [0.32–1,15]). Although the effectiveness of caregiver training is promising, the results should be interpreted cautiously. Due to the preponderance of case studies within canine literature and the insufficient reporting of data across sources, only few studies could be included in the meta-analysis. Overall, more systematic and comparative research regarding the efficacy of caregivers in behavior change programs across species is needed.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the researchers and librarians who readily shared their work and helped in retrieving relevant sources.
Correction Statement
Present affiliation for NicolePfaller-Sadovsky is School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
This work was completed as part of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree of the first author from the School of Biological Sciences (initially at the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work) at Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.