Mentor/s
Dawn Melzer, Deirdre Yeater and Barbara Pierce
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
The aim of the current study was to examine the potential benefits of dog therapy programs on student stress levels on a college campus. While these programs have become increasingly popular there is little evidence on the effectiveness of animal centered activities. We compared the differences on three types of assessments related to stress levels (e.g., Self-Efficacy Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and relative changes in stress hormone levels (cortisol)) for college students before and after interacting with therapy dogs for 10 minutes. Saliva samples were collected using Salimetrics’ Salivabio Oral Swab (SOS) method from student participants 15 minutes after arrival at the study (baseline) and 15 minutes after interaction with therapy dogs (treatment). Saliva samples were processed for cortisol using Salimetrics’ High Sensitivity Salivary Cortisol ELISA kit. This data will provide insight on how interacting with therapy animals can affect stress levels.
College and Major available
College of Arts and Sciences, Biology, Psychology BS
Location
Session 20: Digital Commons & West Campus West Building Room 214
Start Day/Time
4-28-2023 10:30 AM
End Day/Time
5-28-2023 11:45 AM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Prize Categories
Best Multidisciplinary Research or Collaboration, Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Most Creative
The Impact of Brief Animal Assisted Therapy Dog Interactions on College Student Stress and Self-Efficacy Levels
Session 20: Digital Commons & West Campus West Building Room 214
The aim of the current study was to examine the potential benefits of dog therapy programs on student stress levels on a college campus. While these programs have become increasingly popular there is little evidence on the effectiveness of animal centered activities. We compared the differences on three types of assessments related to stress levels (e.g., Self-Efficacy Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and relative changes in stress hormone levels (cortisol)) for college students before and after interacting with therapy dogs for 10 minutes. Saliva samples were collected using Salimetrics’ Salivabio Oral Swab (SOS) method from student participants 15 minutes after arrival at the study (baseline) and 15 minutes after interaction with therapy dogs (treatment). Saliva samples were processed for cortisol using Salimetrics’ High Sensitivity Salivary Cortisol ELISA kit. This data will provide insight on how interacting with therapy animals can affect stress levels.
Students' Information
Victoria Vaillancourt (Senior, Psych Major) (Criminal Justice Minor)
Paige Kutka (Senior Psych Major)
Julian Percoco (Bio major) HONORS program
Savannah Giordano (Bio major) (Chemistry Minor)
Winner, Multidisciplinary Research or Collaboration 2023 Award