An increase in the prevalence of stress among college students is compromising their mental health and academic success. One approach to stress prevention that has seen a surge in implementation is the use of university-based Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs). Despite their popularity and promising causal findings, program evaluations on students’ responsiveness (e.g., enjoyment, attendance, perceptions on usefulness and behavioral change) have yet to be conducted. Using a mixed methods approach, this study reports results of a program evaluation embedded in a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of incorporating various levels (0%, 50% or 100%) of Human Animal Interaction (HAI) into a four-week long university-based stress prevention program resulting in three conditions: (1) Evidence-based Academic Stress Management content only (0% HAI), (2) Human Animal Interaction with therapy dogs only (100% HAI) and (3) equal combinations of Academic Stress Management and HAI (50% HAI). Responsiveness (e.g., enjoyment, usefulness, recommendation and behavioral change) was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively using self-reported survey data collected immediately following the program and again six weeks later. The results suggest that combining evidence-based content presentations with HAI was associated with higher levels of enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and likelihood of recommendation compared to presenting content presentation or HAI alone, although doing so did not result in differences in perceived behavioral change by condition. Themes of students’ perceptions on the role of HAI in shaping program enjoyment, usefulness, recommendations and behavioral change were described.

There has been an increase in research concerning the quality of dyadic interactions between humans and dogs in university-based animal assisted activities (AAAs). While interactions between students and dogs are commonly an area of focus, studies examining interactions between handlers and their dogs are needed. We coded 10-min long video-recorded observations (N = 151) using a mixed methods approach to capture the duration and frequency of dog-directed handler behavior (i.e., postural state, verbal and physical contact) before and during interactions with student participants in an AAA. Analyses showed a significant decrease in the proportion of time handlers spent petting their dog, and a significant increase in the proportion of time handlers spent sitting on the floor and restraining their dog by the leash in response to student introduction. Two dimensions of handlers’ dog-directed behavior emerged (e.g., warmth, control) revealing distinct handler interaction styles: Hands-off (L Warmth, L Control), permissive (H warmth, L control), authoritative (H Warmth, H Control), and authoritarian (L Warmth, H Control). Handlers’ interaction styles were influenced by student presence, leading some handlers to increase warmth behaviors directed to their dogs, while others decreased such behaviors. Implications for the facilitation of university-based AAAs are discussed.

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