Animal Visitation Programs in Colleges and Universities

Crossman, Molly K.; Kazdin, Alan E.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801292-5.00024-9

Cited by 45 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…One approach to stress prevention that has been enthusiastically received by administrators and students is the use of Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs). Established in nearly 1,000 US college campuses to date (Crossman and Kazdin, 2015), most AVPs are conducted in collaboration with external organizations to provide the general student population the opportunity to engage in 5-20 min of petting in small group settings. Although the number of randomized controlled trials is limited, there is promising evidence to suggest that participating in college-based AVPs positively affects emotional states (Pendry et al, 2018), lowers perceived stress (Binfet, 2017) and improves mood (Grajfoner et al, 2017) (Table I).…”

Section: Prevalence and Evidence On Animal-assisted College-based Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical depression moderates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ emotion

Pendry

Vandagriff

Carr

2019

JPMH

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine whether clinical levels of depression moderated university students’ momentary emotional states (e.g. feeling content, anxious, irritable and depressed) in response to conditions commonly experienced during universal, college-based Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs). Design/methodology/approach During a real-life efficacy trial, students (N = 192) were randomly assigned to three common AVP conditions: a hands-on condition in which participants could freely pet cats and dogs in small groups, an observation condition in which participants observed students in the hands-on condition while awaiting one’s turn and a control condition in which participants viewed images of the same animals while refraining from socializing with peers. Using a checklist, students reported their momentary emotional states (e.g. feeling content, anxious, irritable and depressed) before and after the 10-min intervention. Findings Multivariate regression analyses showed that clinically depressed students reported significantly higher levels of momentary negative emotion including irritability, depression and anxiety after waiting in line compared to non-depressed students, suggesting that clinical depression may moderate potential stress-relieving effects of universal college-based AVPs depending on implementation practices. Originality/value This is the first study to examine the causal impact of a common yet unstudied feature of college-based AVPs aimed at reducing general college student stress. Results support the utility of targeted approaches for students presenting clinical levels of depression.

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Section: Prevalence and Evidence On Animal-assisted College-based Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical depression moderates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ emotion

Pendry

Vandagriff

Carr

2019

JPMH

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“…One approach to stress prevention that has been enthusiastically received by university administrators and students is Animal Visitation Programs (AVPs). In the U.S. alone, close to a thousand universities offer on-campus AVPs [10]. According to Vandagriff [11], significant variation exists across empirically studied programs regarding aspects such as program duration and type of interaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Undergraduate Students’ Responsiveness to a 4-Week University-Based Animal-Assisted Stress Prevention Program

Pendry

Kuzara

Gee

2019

IJERPH

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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.

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“…However, the number of students in higher education disclosing mental health problems and accessing higher education institutions' (HEI) support services has risen in recent years [1]. Disclosure and requesting support can result in long waiting lists for more traditional individualised therapy sessions, while stigma around seeking help for mental health and well-being is still present [5,6]. Therefore, a possible solution may be the provision of interventions aimed at reducing stress and anxiety as well as boosting mental health and well-being that are appealing, effective, and accessible to large groups of students [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Disclosure and requesting support can result in long waiting lists for more traditional individualised therapy sessions, while stigma around seeking help for mental health and well-being is still present [5,6]. Therefore, a possible solution may be the provision of interventions aimed at reducing stress and anxiety as well as boosting mental health and well-being that are appealing, effective, and accessible to large groups of students [6]. In this respect, part of the solution could be Animal Assisted Interventions (AAIs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Animal Visitation Programs in Colleges and Universities

Cited by 45 publications

References 28 publications

Clinical depression moderates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ emotion

Clinical depression moderates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ emotion

Evaluation of Undergraduate Students’ Responsiveness to a 4-Week University-Based Animal-Assisted Stress Prevention Program

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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