This is a draft schedule. Presentation dates, times and locations may be subject to change.

234
Paws for a Cause: Stress Relief Using Therapy Dogs

Monday, July 10, 2017
Exhibit Hall (Baltimore Convention Center)
Mark J Anderson, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Kristie Franks, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Marcy M. Beverly, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Stanley F. Kelley, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Kyle J Stutts, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX
Therapy dogs have commonly been used to relieve a number of different types of stress in people ranging from PTSD to the more simple stresses of daily life. On a university campus, two of the most stressful times for a student are during midterm and final examinations. The objective of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of therapy dogs to relieve stress and /or anxiety during major exam time periods. To accomplish this, therapy dogs were made available for students to interact with during the week of midterms and finals. Students voluntarily completed a short survey after their visit with the therapy dogs. On the survey, students (n=168) recorded demographic information and assessed their stress level before and after interacting with the dogs on a 15 cm line scale where greater numerical values indicated a greater level of stress. Need statistical analysis here. Across all participants, stress levels were greater (P<0.01) prior to interacting with a therapy dog (10.4) than afterwards (4.4). This suggests that, regardless of gender, interacting with a therapy dog is highly effective in reducing stress as noted by the almost 60% reduction in stress level observed in the current study. When investigating differences between genders, females indicated greater stress levels (P=0.02) compared to males before interacting with a therapy dog; however, no difference was detected between genders (P=0.94) in stress level following their interaction with a therapy dog. These data suggest that females may perceive a greater level of stress about midterm and final exams than males, but the therapy dogs were effective in reducing stress to a similar level in both genders. While interacting with a therapy dog may not completely remove the stresses in one’s life, it may help deal with those stressors by bringing the stress level down to a manageable level.