College Student Mental Health in an Animal-Assisted Intervention Program: A Preliminary Study

Robino, Ariann Evans; Corrigan, Virginia Kiefer; Anderson, Bridget J.; Werre, Stephen R.; Farley, Julee P.; Marmagas, Susan West; Buechner-Maxwell, Virginia

doi:10.1080/15401383.2020.1757002

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Although providing this kind of intervention to college and university students is a fairly new undertaking [ 26 ], there is promising evidence that AAIs can, amongst others, result in higher ratings of momentary positive emotions, a reduction in stress-related negative emotions [ 27 , 28 ], psychological and physical markers of stress [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], anxiety [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ], and homesickness while increasing their satisfaction with life, connectedness to campus [ 37 , 38 ], behavioral aspects of academic success [ 39 ], well-being and improving their social skills as well as their mood [ 29 , 33 , 40 ]. Furthermore, Daltry and Mehr [ 41 ] found that having animals on campus may promote the services offered by student counseling centers on campus, as a lot of students were unaware of them before implementing the AAI.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Dog-Assisted Interventions in Higher Education: Students’ Attitudes and Perceived Effects on Well-Being

Rothkopf

Schworm

2021

IJERPH

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Both, in the transition to university and during it, students experience a multitude of different changes. Thus, it is no surprise that many students in higher education report suffering from mental health problems. To address their concerns, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have gained more and more attention over the past few years. Nonetheless, AAIs have neither yet been used nor researched at German universities. Two studies were carried out to address this issue. In Study I, 709 university students answered a questionnaire evaluating their attitude towards dogs, AAIs and interest in its use at their home university. In Study II, 27 students participated in a dog-assisted intervention (DAI) in which they were allowed to interact with a qualified dog for 15 min. To gain information about their well-being, blood pressure was measured and the Basler Befindlichkeitsskala had to be answered before and after the intervention. Results showed a positive attitude among German students toward dogs, AAIs, and the use of DAIs at their home university. Although an effect on physical well-being could not be found, results showed that a 15-min DAI can improve students’ psychological well-being. Thus, higher education administrators should consider using DAIs as a way to improve student well-being.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Dog-Assisted Interventions in Higher Education: Students’ Attitudes and Perceived Effects on Well-Being

Rothkopf

Schworm

2021

IJERPH

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“…Other specified tools are Observational Measurement of Engagement (modified) [31], Social Behaviour Observation Checklist [57,61], Behavioural Instrument for the Assessment of Dog Well-Being Before/During/After Therapy Sessions [69], OHAIRE coding system (Observation of Human-Animal Interaction for Research) [64,68], an evaluation form [29] and a checklist [37] of the interaction with the dog. Finally, interaction with the dog is also assessed using questionnaires and/or scales [30,33,34,39,40,42,[74][75][76][77], including namely the Animal-assisted Therapy Flow Sheet [33,34,40] and the Human-Animal Interaction Scale (HAIS) [75].…”

Section: Dai/dai Simulation Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the focus is on the patient (or participant) who interacts with the animal. Nevertheless, other studies (n = 12) consider the dog's perspective [28,30,35,44,[52][53][54]56,58,62,65,69] or both perspectives (animal-and human-initiated interactions) (n = 8) [43,46,48,50,56,58,66,75].…”

Section: Dai/dai Simulation Contextsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Measure Human-Dog Interaction in Dog Assisted Interventions? A Scoping Review

De Santis,

Filugelli,

Mair

et al. 2024

Animals

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Human-dog interaction is the working tool through which the therapeutic, educational and recreational goals of dog-assisted interventions (DAIs) are achieved. A better understanding of the characteristics of this interaction could improve the effectiveness of DAIs. This scoping review addresses the question: how has the human-dog connection been measured in the context of DAIs? After searching the Web of Science and Scopus platforms, only peer-reviewed, primary research studies reporting measures of therapy dog-human interaction, relationship and bond were included. A total of 70 included articles provided information on what was measured (interaction, relationship or bond) and how, as well as the general context (DAIs or experimental situations with therapy dogs). While the majority of the articles identified use behavioural analysis methods to analyse the interaction between the participant/recipient and the therapy dog during DAIs, it was possible to identify some more structured tools that assess the participant/recipient’s interaction, relationship or bond with the therapy dog, as well as tools that consider the animal’s perspective or focus on the dog-handler dyad, indicating growing areas of research. The tools and methods identified can be used by both practitioners and researchers to further explore aspects of human-dog interaction in the field of DAIs.

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“…Polking et al [178] wrong study design Quinn et al [179] wrong study design Ralston et al [180] wrong study design Renne et al [181] wrong study design Robino et al [182] wrong study design…”

Section: References Of Excluded Studies From Full Manuscript Search Reason Excludedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal-Assisted Interventions for the Improvement of Mental Health Outcomes in Higher Education Students: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

Parbery-Clark

Lubamba

Tanner

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs), particularly Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA), in improving mental health outcomes for students in higher education. The number of students in higher education reporting mental health problems and seeking support from universities’ student support services has risen over recent years. Therefore, providing engaging interventions, such as AAIs, that are accessible to large groups of students are attractive. Methods: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched from relative inception to end of April 2020. Additionally, a grey literature search was undertaken. Independent screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were completed, with varying percentages, by two reviewers. Results: After de-duplication, 6248 articles were identified of which 11 studies were included in the narrative synthesis. The evidence from randomised controlled trials suggests that AAIs could provide short-term beneficial results for anxiety in students attending higher education but with limited evidence for stress, and inconclusive evidence for depression, well-being and mood. For the non-statistically significant results, the studies either did not include a power calculation or were under-powered. Conclusions: Potential emerging evidence for the short-term benefits of AAI for anxiety, and possibly stress, for students in higher education was found.

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College Student Mental Health in an Animal-Assisted Intervention Program: A Preliminary Study

Cited by 11 publications

References 31 publications

Exploring Dog-Assisted Interventions in Higher Education: Students’ Attitudes and Perceived Effects on Well-Being

Exploring Dog-Assisted Interventions in Higher Education: Students’ Attitudes and Perceived Effects on Well-Being

How to Measure Human-Dog Interaction in Dog Assisted Interventions? A Scoping Review

Animal-Assisted Interventions for the Improvement of Mental Health Outcomes in Higher Education Students: A Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials

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