As university students face many stressful situations, especially during the examination period, this study focused on the use of animal-assisted activities (AAAs) with a dog as a means of relieving students' stress before a final exam. The aim was to determine whether a 10-min interaction with a dog affected subjectively evaluated stress and mood, objective blood pressure, and heart rate. Ninety-three female students (mean age = 22.5 years; standard deviation = 3.8 years) were divided into three groups according to their preference. The first group underwent AAAs (n = 26), the second group chose a relaxation technique (n = 28), and the last one was a control group (n = 39). Physiological values were measured using a pressure gauge and the subjective feelings of stress and mood were evaluated by the Likert scale 1-5. The AAA group showed significant improvement after 10 min of interaction in both mood and stress, with no change in heart rate and blood pressure. The remaining groups showed a significant decrease in blood pressure, but not in heart rate, with different evaluations of mood and stress. AAAs with a dog appear to be effective in improving students' mood and stress without affecting their physiological parameters.

Department of Ethology and Companion Animal Science Faculty of Agrobiology Food and Natural Resources Czech University of Life Sciences 16500 Prague Czech Republic

Department of Statistics Faculty of Economics and Management Czech University of Life Sciences 16500 Prague Czech Republic

See more in PubMed

Epel E.S., Lithgow G.J. Stress Biology and Aging Mechanisms: Toward Understanding the Deep Connection between Adaptation to Stress and Longevity. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 2014;69:S10–S16. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glu055. PubMed DOI PMC

Schneiderman N., Ironson G., Siegel S.D. Stress and Health: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 2005;1:607–628. doi: 10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141. PubMed DOI PMC

DeCourcey M., Russell A.C., Keister K.J. Animal-Assisted Therapy: Evaluation and Implementation of a Complementary Therapy to Improve the Psychological and Physiological Health of Critically Ill Patients. Dimens. Crit. Care Nurs. 2010;29:211. doi: 10.1097/DCC.0b013e3181e6c71a. PubMed DOI

Lupien S.J., McEwen B.S., Gunnar M.R., Heim C. Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2009;10:434–445. doi: 10.1038/nrn2639. PubMed DOI

Rainforth M.V., Schneider R.H., Nidich S.I., Gaylord-King C., Salerno J.W., Anderson J.W. Stress reduction programs in patients with elevated blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Curr. Hypertens. Rep. 2007;9:520–528. doi: 10.1007/s11906-007-0094-3. PubMed DOI PMC

Holt-Lunstad J., Steffen P.R. Diurnal Cortisol Variation is Associated with Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping. Psychosom. Med. 2007;69:339–343. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318050d6cc. PubMed DOI

Fevre M.L., Matheny J., Kolt G.S. Eustress, distress, and interpretation in occupational stress. J. Manag. Psychol. 2003;18:726–744. doi: 10.1108/02683940310502412. DOI

Dhabhar F.S., Malarkey W.B., Neri E., McEwen B.S. Stress-induced redistribution of immune cells—From barracks to boulevards to battlefields: A tale of three hormones—Curt Richter Award Winner. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012;37:1345–1368. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.05.008. PubMed DOI PMC

Crum A.J., Salovey P., Achor S. Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 2013;104:716–733. doi: 10.1037/a0031201. PubMed DOI

Keller A., Litzelman K., Wisk L.E., Maddox T., Cheng E.R., Creswell P.D., Witt W.P. Does the perception that stress affects health matter? The association with health and mortality. Health Psychol. 2012;31:677–684. doi: 10.1037/a0026743. PubMed DOI PMC

Lloyd C., King R., Chenoweth L. Social work, stress and burnout: A review. J. Ment. Health. 2002;11:255–265. doi: 10.1080/09638230020023642. DOI

McVicar A. Workplace stress in nursing: A literature review. J. Adv. Nurs. 2003;44:633–642. doi: 10.1046/j.0309-2402.2003.02853.x. PubMed DOI

Clark C.M., Nguyen D.T., Barbosa-Leiker C. Student Perceptions of Stress, Coping, Relationships, and Academic Civility: A Longitudinal Study. Nurse Educ. 2014;39:170–174. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000049. PubMed DOI

Maykrantz S.A., Houghton J.D. Self-leadership and stress among college students: Examining the moderating role of coping skills†. J. Am. Coll. Health. 2020;68:89–96. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2018.1515759. PubMed DOI

Haggerty J.M., Mueller M.K. Animal-assisted Stress Reduction Programs in Higher Education. Innov. High. Educ. 2017;42:379–389. doi: 10.1007/s10755-017-9392-0. DOI

Friesen L. Exploring Animal-Assisted Programs with Children in School and Therapeutic Contexts. Early Child. Educ. J. 2010;37:261–267. doi: 10.1007/s10643-009-0349-5. DOI

Nimer J., Lundahl B. Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Meta-Analysis. Anthrozoös. 2007;20:225–238. doi: 10.2752/089279307X224773. DOI

Daly B., Suggs S. Teachers’ experiences with humane education and animals in the elementary classroom: Implications for empathy development. J. Moral Educ. 2010;39:101–112. doi: 10.1080/03057240903528733. DOI

Fedor J. Animal-Assisted Therapy Supports Student Connectedness. NASN Sch. Nurse. 2018;33:355–358. doi: 10.1177/1942602X18776424. PubMed DOI

Williams C., Emond K., Maynord K., Simpkins J., Stumbo A., Terhaar T. An Animal-Assisted Intervention’s Influence on Graduate Students’ Stress and Anxiety Prior to an Examination. Open Access Libr. J. 2018;5:1–16. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1104831. DOI

Tsai C.-C., Friedmann E., Thomas S.A. The Effect of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Stress Responses in Hospitalized Children. Anthrozoös. 2010;23:245–258. doi: 10.2752/175303710X12750451258977. DOI

Roux M.C.L., Kemp R. Effect of a companion dog on depression and anxiety levels of elderly residents in a long-term care facility. Psychogeriatrics. 2009;9:23–26. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-8301.2009.00268.x. DOI

Rondeau L., Corriveau H., Bier N., Camden C., Champagne N., Dion C. Effectiveness of a rehabilitation dog in fostering gait retraining for adults with a recent stroke: A multiple single-case study. NeuroRehabilitation. 2010;27:155–163. doi: 10.3233/NRE-2010-0592. PubMed DOI

O’Haire M.E., McKenzie S.J., McCune S., Slaughter V. Effects of Animal-Assisted Activities with Guinea Pigs in the Primary School Classroom. Anthrozoös. 2013;26:445–458. PubMed PMC

Glintborg C., Hansen T.G.B. How Are Service Dogs for Adults with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Integrated with Rehabilitation in Denmark? A Case Study. Animals. 2017;7:33. doi: 10.3390/ani7050033. PubMed DOI PMC

Brelsford V., Meints K., Gee N., Pfeffer K. Animal-Assisted Interventions in the Classroom—A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2017;14:669. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14070669. PubMed DOI PMC

Pinto L.E., Foulkes D. Well-being and human-animal interactions in schools: The case of “Dog Daycare Co-Op”. Brock Educ. 2015;24 doi: 10.26522/brocked.v24i2.395. DOI

Beetz A. Socio-emotional correlates of a schooldog-teacher-team in the classroom. Front. Psychol. 2013;4:886. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00886. PubMed DOI PMC

Ward-Griffin E., Klaiber P., Collins H.K., Owens R.L., Coren S., Chen F.S. Petting away pre-exam stress: The effect of therapy dog sessions on student well-being. Stress Health. 2018;34:468–473. doi: 10.1002/smi.2804. PubMed DOI

Crossman M.K., Kazdin A.E., Knudson K. Brief Unstructured Interaction with a Dog Reduces Distress. Anthrozoös. 2015;28:649–659. doi: 10.1080/08927936.2015.1070008. DOI

Thelwell E.L.R. Paws for Thought: A Controlled Study Investigating the Benefits of Interacting with a House-Trained Dog on University Students Mood and Anxiety. Animals. 2019;9:846. doi: 10.3390/ani9100846. PubMed DOI PMC

Binfet J.-T., Passmore H.-A. Hounds and Homesickness: The Effects of an Animal-assisted Therapeutic Intervention for First-Year University Students. Anthrozoös. 2016;29:441–454. doi: 10.1080/08927936.2016.1181364. DOI

Trammell J.P. The Effect of Therapy Dogs on Exam Stress and Memory. Anthrozoös. 2017;30:607–621. doi: 10.1080/08927936.2017.1370244. DOI

Struthers C.W., Perry R.P., Menec V.H. An examination of the relationship among academic stress, coping, motivation, and performance in college. Res. High. Educ. 2000;41:581–592. doi: 10.1023/A:1007094931292. DOI

Ng V., Koh D., Chia S.-E. Examination Stress, Salivary Cortisol, and Academic Performance. Psychol. Rep. 2003;93:1133–1134. doi: 10.2466/PR0.93.7.1133-1134. PubMed DOI

Binfet J.-T., Passmore H.-A., Cebry A., Struik K., McKay C. Reducing university students’ stress through a drop-in canine-therapy program. J. Ment. Health. 2018;27:197–204. doi: 10.1080/09638237.2017.1417551. PubMed DOI

Pendry P., Carr A.M., Roeter S.M., Vandagriff J.L. Experimental trial demonstrates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ positive and negative emotion. Human-Anim. Interact. Bull. 2018;6:81–97.

Delgado C., Toukonen M., Wheeler C. Effect of Canine Play Interventions as a Stress Reduction Strategy in College Students. Nurse Educ. 2018;43:149–153. doi: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000000451. PubMed DOI

Jarolmen J., Patel G. The Effects of Animal-Assisted Activities on College Students Before and After a Final Exam. J. Creat. Ment. Health. 2018;13:264–274. doi: 10.1080/15401383.2018.1425941. DOI

Barker S.B., Barker R.T., McCain N.L., Schubert C.M. A Randomized Cross-over Exploratory Study of the Effect of Visiting Therapy Dogs on College Student Stress Before Final Exams. Anthrozoös. 2016;29:35–46. doi: 10.1080/08927936.2015.1069988. DOI

Polheber J.P., Matchock R.L. The presence of a dog attenuates cortisol and heart rate in the Trier Social Stress Test compared to human friends. J. Behav. Med. 2014;37:860–867. doi: 10.1007/s10865-013-9546-1. PubMed DOI

Wood E., Ohlsen S., Thompson J., Hulin J., Knowles L. The feasibility of brief dog-assisted therapy on university students stress levels: The PAwS study. J. Ment. Health. 2018;27:263–268. doi: 10.1080/09638237.2017.1385737. PubMed DOI

Grajfoner D., Harte E., Potter L., McGuigan N. The Effect of Dog-Assisted Intervention on Student Well-Being, Mood, and Anxiety. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2017;14:483. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14050483. PubMed DOI PMC

Allen K. Are Pets a Healthy Pleasure? The Influence of Pets on Blood Pressure. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 2003;12:236–239. doi: 10.1046/j.0963-7214.2003.01269.x. DOI

Allen K. Cardiovascular Reactivity and the Presence of Pets, Friends, and Spouses: The Truth about Cats and Dogs. Psychosom. Med. 2002;64:727–739. PubMed

Allen K., Shykoff B.E., Izzo J.L. Pet Ownership, but Not ACE Inhibitor Therapy, Blunts Home Blood Pressure Responses to Mental Stress. Hypertension. 2001;38:815–820. doi: 10.1161/hyp.38.4.815. PubMed DOI