The mere prospect of pet therapy alleviates university students’ stress, and the benefits of “canine-assisted intervention” flow both ways, according to Thai researchers.

A Chiang Mai University study has found that 15-minute “play” sessions with dogs lower students’ self-reported stress levels by about one-third – with concomitant reductions in salivary cortisol and pulse rates, both considered physiological markers of stress.

The research also found that students became less stressed after simply being informed of the dogs’ names, habits and personality traits. “These findings underscore the potential utility of incorporating…dogs into stress management programmes within university settings,” the study team in the journal Plos One.

“Canine-assisted intervention…is easy to implement and can effectively relieve momentary stress in university students – for example, during exams.”

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The study claims to be the first evaluation of the therapy in Thailand, and the first anywhere to simultaneously investigate stress levels and their associated biomarkers in dogs. It comes amid research findings that study-related stress leads to diagnosable mental illnesses in as many as one in four students.

The study tracked 122 undergraduates, mostly young women, who interacted with six privately owned dogs – five chihuahuas and a Shetland sheepdog – over the course of five days in the university’s main library.

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The researchers concluded that the students had benefited from the “contact comfort”, “pleasant external focus” and “sense of belonging and support” engendered by time with the dogs, and also from the “relaxation responses” triggered by “the anticipation of dogs’ presence”.

Elevated cortisol levels in the dogs’ saliva and faecal samples also reflected their “increased stimulation during play with students”, the study found.

Pet therapy may outdo counselling in helping students cultivate “the critical developmental skills of emotion regulation”, the researchers speculated. “Distinct from human-human interactions…dogs can help students feel more at ease and less concerned about being evaluated.”

The research suggests that any friendly dog with “no fear of strangers” can serve as a therapy pet. “In contexts where certified dogs and handlers are not readily available, non-certified dogs could still offer mental health benefits.”

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But the paper concedes that the observed benefits could have been produced by “a positive distraction from academic pressure” rather than “the actual interaction time with the dogs. Because our current study lacked a control group, the results should be interpreted with caution,” it says.

Previous research, however, has delivered similar findings. A led by Washington State University researchers found that “repeated exposure to petting dogs” was more effective than traditional approaches, such as stress management lectures, in improving the “executive functioning” skills of “at-risk” students.

The found significantly decreased cortisol levels among students who spent short periods petting dogs or cats, while a University of Warwick found that students who interacted directly with dogs benefited more than those who merely watched dog videos.

Christine Kivlen, an occupational therapy researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit, therapy dogs could help students deal with homesickness and strengthen their sense of belonging while also lessening their anxiety and stress.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com