Project Stride: An Equine-Assisted Intervention to Reduce Symptoms of Social Anxiety in Young Women.

This research examines “Project Stride”, a therapy program that uses horse-assisted activities combined with cognitive-behavioral strategies to tackle social anxiety symptoms in young women. Results suggest the program significantly reduced social anxiety scores, supporting the idea that it may be a valid therapy option.

About the Study

• The study was designed to test the effectiveness of an intervention, termed “Project Stride”, aimed at improving symptoms of social anxiety in young women. The intervention combined equine-assisted activities and cognitive-behavioral strategies.
• While there is existing evidence supporting the use of equine-assisted activities for the treatment of mental disorders, no previous research had specifically tested their utility in addressing social anxiety symptoms in young women.
• This research addresses this gap and provides initial evidence supporting the effectiveness of such a strategy.

Samples and Methods

• The study included 12 women aged between 18 and 29 years. These women were randomly assigned to either Project Stride or a non-treatment control group.
• The intervention consisted of six sessions and the impact was measured using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale at three points: at the beginning of the program, immediately after its conclusion, and 6 weeks following its conclusion.
• The methodology ensured that the impact of the treatment could be measured against a baseline for each participant and also observed over a relatively longer period of time after the intervention.

Findings

• Results showed that Project Stride was both acceptable and feasible to participants.
• Significantly, participants who took part in Project Stride experienced greater reductions in social anxiety scores compared to those in the control group. These reductions were observed both immediately after the program, as well as six weeks later.
• Specifically, participants saw a decrease of 24.8 points in their social anxiety scores immediately after the program and a decrease of 31.8 points six weeks later.

Conclusions

• Overall, the study found positive results for the use of Project Stride as an intervention for reducing symptoms of social anxiety in young women.
• The effectiveness of the combined approach of equine-assisted activities and cognitive-behavioral strategies in reducing social anxiety scores suggests that this could be a promising therapeutic intervention for social anxiety.
• The study concludes that these findings justify conducting a full-scale efficacy trial of Project Stride.