Therapy Dogs Help Reduce Stress Before Finals
According to Medical Xpress, a site with medical research advances and health news, a research team at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has found through a study that by interacting with stress dogs significantly reduces perceived stress of college students during exam week.
"Bringing therapy dogs onto campus is a low-cost intervention that doesn't have any side effects," said Sandra Barker, Ph.D., CHAI director and professor of psychiatry at the VCU School of Medicine, according to Medical Xpress. "This study should serve as encouragement for other universities to consider activities with therapy dogs as a way to help address stress before final exams."
This study was published in Anthrozoos, the official journal of the International Society for Anthrozoology, on March 8. The controlled study focused on 78 college students’ interacting with therapy dogs for 15 minutes and spent 15 minutes in a control condition, which was a neutral setting without dogs. Each student’s physiological stress levels were tested during the week prior to fall semester final exams. According to the study, the stress reduction was significant, regardless if the student in question spent time with the dog first or in the control condition first.
According to VCU News, Virginia Commonwealth University’s student newspaper, studies have shown that heightened exam stress in college students has been associated with poorer academic performance, depression, high levels of anxiety, and low student expectations for their grades. “Stress is a major problem for college students and exams are considered one of the major stressors,” Barker said, according to Medical Xpress. By providing students with access to therapy dogs to combat dangerous levels of stress is a low-cost way and requires few professional resources.
The University of St. Francis had a similar event this week at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore with a few dogs.
(Photo courtesy from Andrew Finein)
(Photo courtesy from Sara Michalowicz)
If you missed the chance to de-stress with the dogs, there’s two more events you can attend. You can make a Christmas ornament for yourself or someone else as a gift at Room L214 today, December 7 from 2:50-3:40 P.M. The hosts of the event will also provide tips on staying focused and centered during finals.
The Academic Resource Center (ARC) is also hosting an event at the second floor of the USF Library from December 12-15. Students can color, relax, play a game and when you are done de-stressing, there’s tutors available to help students tackle those finals.
Good luck, USF Students!
