For college students under pressure, petting a dog may be the best stress fighter around.

Summary: A 4-week-stress-prevention study was conducted by Washington State University recently to understand the effects of Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) on typical and at-risk college students’ effective functioning. It showed marked improvements in numerous cognitive and thinking skills.

Source: Washington State University and NeuroscienceNews

The Implementation of university-based animal-assisted stress-prevention programs has increasingly inspired, in spite of limited knowledge about its impacts on students’ academic success. Washington State University’s research program solely focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students’ thinking and planning skills in a more effective way compared to the programs that included conventional stress-management information.

The study was published on 12th of May, 2021 in AERA Open, a peer reviewed journal of American Educational Research Association. This random trial was conducted on 309 students, which measured effective functioning throughout a 4-week stress-prevention program with varying levels of human–animal interaction(HAI) and evidence-based content presentations on students’ executive functioning(EF).

Effects were examined taking into consideration the moderating role of students’ risk status, a total of 121 students, based on history of academic failure, suicidal ideation, mental health, and learning issues. Intent-to-treat analyses showed that at-risk students exhibit the highest levels of EF and metacognition at posttest in the condition featuring 100% HAI. The paper demonstrated that at-risk students exhibited improvements upto six weeks after the completion of four-week-long program.

Human-animal interaction(HAI) programs help by letting stressed students to feel free to talk and think about their stressors. Through petting therapy dogs, they find it helpful to cope with the stressors rather than being affected. This enhances students’ ability to think, set goals, get motivated, and concentrate on their academics. Universities should consider providing struggling students with targeted programs emphasizing exposure to HAI.