Petting dogs or cats help alleviate stress among college students, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal AERA Open. College is stressful. Students have classes, papers, and exams. But they also often have work, bills to pay, and so many other pressures common in modern life.
‘Just 10 minutes of interaction with cats or dogs reduces cortisol levels, which is a major stress hormone.
’
Tweet it Now
Many universities have instituted "Pet Your Stress Away" programs, where students can come in and interact with cats and dogs to help alleviate some of the strain.Scientists at Washington State University have recently demonstrated that, in addition to improving students' moods, these programs can actually get "under the skin" and have stress-relieving physiological benefits.
"Just 10 minutes can have a significant impact," said Patricia Pendry, an associate professor in WSU's Department of Human Development. "Students in our study that interacted with cats and dogs had a significant reduction in cortisol, a major stress hormone."
This is the first study that has demonstrated reductions in students' cortisol levels during a real-life intervention rather than in a laboratory setting.
The study involved 249 college students randomly divided into four groups. The first group received hands-on interaction in small groups with cats and dogs for 10 minutes. They could pet, play with, and generally hang out with the animals as they wanted.
Advertisement
Those students waited for their turn quietly for 10 minutes without their phones, reading materials, or other stimuli, but were told they would experience animal interaction soon.
Advertisement
"We already knew that students enjoy interacting with animals and that it helps them experience more positive emotions," Pendry said. "What we wanted to learn was whether this exposure would help students reduce their stress in a less subjective way. And it did, which is exciting because the reduction of stress hormones may, over time, have significant benefits for physical and mental health."
Now Pendry and her team are continuing this work by examining the impact of a four-week-long animal-assisted stress prevention program. Preliminary results are very positive, with a follow-up study showing that the findings of the recently published work hold up.
They hope to publish the final results of that work in the near future.
Source-Eurekalert