EAI on Adolescent Social Competence & Stress Regulation

Join HHRF and Dr. Patricia Pendry on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 at 7:00pm (ET) for this presentation that will focus on empirical evidence and examining the effects of Equine Assisted Interventions (EAIs) on adolescents’ social competence and ability to regulate stress. Dr. Pendry will present findings of the PATH to Success study, a randomized controlled trial that examined the efficacy of an Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) program in shaping adolescent social competence and physiological markers of stress using an experimental design with an adequately powered sample size. Next, she will discuss the role of equine characteristics, the EAI environment, and the nature of relevant human equine interactions that shaped these results. She will also present the workings of the Human Animal Interaction (HAI) - Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) Transactional model, a framework for understanding the mechanisms that underlie effects of EAI effect on cortisol - a marker of HPA axis activity - and its correlates. Lastly, Dr. Pendry will discuss strengths and limitations of the findings, and interpret their significance for theory, practice and future research.

About our speaker: Dr. Patricia Pendry is a Professor of Human Development, Graduate faculty member in the Prevention Science Program at Washington State University in Pullman, WA and former President of the International Society of Anthrozoology (ISAZ). Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, she conducts randomized controlled trials in real-life settings to determine the effects of animal assisted interventions (AAI) with equines, canine and felines on children, adolescents and young adults’ physiological and affective regulation, mental health and academic success. Drawing from literatures from human development, anthrozoology, prevention science, and animal behavior, she focuses on basal, diurnal and momentary activity of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis, executive function and moment-to-moment emotion states of humans. In addition to examining the efficacy of AAIs, her research examines the active components and mechanisms that facilitate treatment effects, including the quality of dyadic and triadic interactions between animals, their handlers and AAI participants. Her educational background includes an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Child Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University, IL. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Research Methods, Stress and Coping, Child Development, Program Evaluation and Policy Issues in Human Development.She emigrated from the Netherlands in her twenties and is a life-long equestrian and animal lover.