Effect of Dog Presence on Stress Levels in Students under Psychological Strain: A Pilot Study

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Mar 28;17(7):2286. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072286.

Abstract

As university students face many stressful situations, especially during the examination period, this study focused on the use of animal-assisted activities (AAAs) with a dog as a means of relieving students' stress before a final exam. The aim was to determine whether a 10-min interaction with a dog affected subjectively evaluated stress and mood, objective blood pressure, and heart rate. Ninety-three female students (mean age = 22.5 years; standard deviation = 3.8 years) were divided into three groups according to their preference. The first group underwent AAAs (n = 26), the second group chose a relaxation technique (n = 28), and the last one was a control group (n = 39). Physiological values were measured using a pressure gauge and the subjective feelings of stress and mood were evaluated by the Likert scale 1-5. The AAA group showed significant improvement after 10 min of interaction in both mood and stress, with no change in heart rate and blood pressure. The remaining groups showed a significant decrease in blood pressure, but not in heart rate, with different evaluations of mood and stress. AAAs with a dog appear to be effective in improving students' mood and stress without affecting their physiological parameters.

Keywords: animal assisted activity; dog; stress; students’ health.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect
  • Animal Assisted Therapy*
  • Animals
  • Blood Pressure
  • Dogs*
  • Female
  • Heart Rate
  • Humans
  • Pilot Projects
  • Relaxation Therapy
  • Stress, Psychological*
  • Students / psychology*
  • Young Adult