The DAT program comprised 12 manualized sessions and included two phases: 1) individual intervention (6 sessions) and 2) group activity (6 sessions). Patients participated in weekly sessions for about 3 months. Each session lasted 45 minutes. The groups were formed by 3-4 patients. Sessions included the participation of two certified therapy dogs, two technicians specialized in DAT and a psychologist. Participants in this group were visited by their psychiatrist in order to monitor their adherence to medications.

Participants received their usual treatment. They were visited by their psychiatrist in order to monitor their adherence and continuation on medications as prescribed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were the same as for the experimental group. Participants in the TAU group did not receive DAT sessions.

The investigators used the CTAC Method (Center of Dog Assisted Therapy) (E Domènec 2012).

Social Skills Improvement System-Parent Form (SSIS-P). is a 79 items scale (Likert scale 0 to 4) measuring social skills and problem behaviors in children and adolescents as reported by their parents. In the Social Skills domain, the subscales are communication, cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, engagement, and self-control. The Problem Behaviors domain includes internalizing and externalizing problems, bullying, hyperactivity/inattention and autism spectrum.

Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL of Achenbach) parent version. to assess Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in patients between 4 and 18 years. The CBCL is a 113 item scale (Likert scale: 0-2) which assesses withdrawn symptoms, somatic complains, anxiety/depressive symptoms, thought problems, ADHD features, oppositional behavior and behavioral problems. Higher scores indicate more conduct problems.

Clinical Global Impression Scale for Severity(CGI-S Clinician). The Clinical Global Impression Scale for Severity (CGI-S): is a 7-point scale (1 = normal or not ill, and 7 = extremely ill) .