Feasibility and Acceptability of a Classroom-Based Animal Assisted Activity to Address Graduate Student Stress and Anxiety

Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAIs) are gaining traction in mental health services. AAIs generally involve the inclusion of a trained therapy animal to provide therapeutic comfort. It is known that college students have elevated levels of stress; Classroom Canines, an Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA), which is a type of AAI, was incorporated into a graduate-level social work classroom to reduce stress. The intervention, which included a therapy-dog-in-training, was compared to music therapy. Students in different sections of the same course (n = 36) were asked to complete surveys before and after the interventions. The pre-post scores were compared using Wilcoxon Signed Rank and paired sample t-tests. Students in Classroom Canines did experience a reduction in anxiety from pretest to posttest, however, no strong evidence was found to indicate an impact in either classroom overall. More research is needed to see if AAA can positively impact students with stress.