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An Exploration of the Benefits of Animal-Assisted Activities in Undergraduate Students in Singapore
Muckle, Jolene Lasikiewicz, Nicola
Muckle, Jolene
Lasikiewicz, Nicola
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2017-07-03
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Abstract
The rise in psychological problems, attrition and suicide rates of university students has been linked to the stressful challenges faced during university life. To buffer this, Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) may assist in improving psychological and physiological well-being in students, however, to date, there is little empirical evidence for their effectiveness. Consequently, this study explored the psychological and physiological benefits of AAA in a sample of undergraduate students. Sixty-two students from two local universities participated in an hour-long AAA session delivered by Therapy Dogs Singapore (TDS). Measures of perceived stress, anxiety, state self-esteem, and blood pressure (BP) were taken before and after the sessions. The results indicated that students experienced significant decreases in state anxiety, systolic and diastolic BP post AAA, and when compared to a quiet reading comparison session. State self-esteem increased post AAA and, further, was found to moderate the change in anxiety in addition to perceived stress, whereby, perceived anxiety reduced more in those with low state self-esteem and high perceived stress. These results suggest that AAA can be an effective intervention for stress among undergraduate students, which utilizes a novel, easy to implement and enjoyable approach for Singaporean students.
Citation
Muckle, S. J., & Lasikiewicz, N. (2017). An Exploration of the Benefits of Animal-Assisted Activities in Undergraduate Students in Singapore. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 20(2), 75-84. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12166
Publisher
Wiley
Journal
Asian Journal of Social Psychology
Research Unit
DOI
10.1111/ajsp.12166
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Article
Language
en
Description
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Muckle, S. J., & Lasikiewicz, N. (2017). An Exploration of the Benefits of Animal-Assisted Activities in Undergraduate Students in Singapore. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 20(2), 75-84. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12166, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajsp.12166/full. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving
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ISSN
EISSN
1467-839X