Effects of a Canine-Assisted Intervention in Perceived and Physiological Stress of Spanish University Students

IF 0.6 4区农林科学 Q4 SOCIOLOGY

Society & Animals Pub Date : 2023-09-08 DOI:10.1163/15685306-bja10146

Diana Peña Gil, Celia Camilli Trujillo, Mercedes García García

{"title":"Effects of a Canine-Assisted Intervention in Perceived and Physiological Stress of Spanish University Students","authors":"Diana Peña Gil, Celia Camilli Trujillo, Mercedes García García","doi":"10.1163/15685306-bja10146","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Many universities, concerned with finding methods to improve the academic environment and support their students, carry out animal-assisted interventions. This study measured the effect of a canine-assisted intervention program on the stress of first-year university students at the Complutense University of Madrid. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was followed, with a follow-up measure. The instruments used were the Perceived Stress Questionnaire and salivary cortisol measures. The sample was 102 students. The program, called “Compludog,” consisted of one 45-minute session a week for three weeks. The results demonstrated significant improvements in physiological and perceived stress in the posttest and follow-up measure. In addition, analyses revealed that the sociodemographic variables had no influence on the effects of the program. It is concluded that a canine-assisted intervention program is effective. Therefore, Spanish universities should consider this kind of program to support their students and reduce their stress, even during exam time.","PeriodicalId":22000,"journal":{"name":"Society & Animals","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Society & Animals","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10146","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract Many universities, concerned with finding methods to improve the academic environment and support their students, carry out animal-assisted interventions. This study measured the effect of a canine-assisted intervention program on the stress of first-year university students at the Complutense University of Madrid. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was followed, with a follow-up measure. The instruments used were the Perceived Stress Questionnaire and salivary cortisol measures. The sample was 102 students. The program, called “Compludog,” consisted of one 45-minute session a week for three weeks. The results demonstrated significant improvements in physiological and perceived stress in the posttest and follow-up measure. In addition, analyses revealed that the sociodemographic variables had no influence on the effects of the program. It is concluded that a canine-assisted intervention program is effective. Therefore, Spanish universities should consider this kind of program to support their students and reduce their stress, even during exam time.

查看原文本刊更多论文

犬类辅助干预对西班牙大学生感知应激和生理应激的影响

许多大学为了寻找改善学术环境和支持学生的方法，开展了动物辅助干预。本研究测量了犬类辅助干预项目对马德里康普顿斯大学一年级大学生压力的影响。采用准实验前测后测设计，并进行随访测量。使用的工具是感知压力问卷和唾液皮质醇测量。样本是102名学生。这个项目名为“Compludog”，每周进行一次45分钟的训练，持续三周。结果显示，在生理和感知压力后测和随访测量显著改善。此外，分析显示，社会人口变量对该计划的效果没有影响。结论:犬类辅助干预方案是有效的。因此，西班牙的大学应该考虑这种项目来支持他们的学生，减轻他们的压力，即使是在考试期间。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Society & Animals 社会科学-兽医学

CiteScore

1.40

自引率

12.50%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Society & Animals publishes studies that describe and analyze our experiences of non-human animals from the perspective of various disciplines within both the Social Sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science) and the Humanities (e.g., history, literary criticism). The journal specifically deals with subjects such as human-animal interactions in various settings (animal cruelty, the therapeutic uses of animals), the applied uses of animals (research, education, medicine and agriculture), the use of animals in popular culture (e.g. dog-fighting, circus, animal companion, animal research), attitudes toward animals as affected by different socializing agencies and strategies, representations of animals in literature, the history of the domestication of animals, the politics of animal welfare, and the constitution of the animal rights movement.