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May 12, 2021 2:47 PM Erin Robinson
Updated:
PULLMAN, Wash. A new study from Washington State University shows that petting therapy dogs can enhance stressed students’ thinking skills and help with their planning skills.
Researchers found that traditional stress management approaches – like lectures by experts and other workshops – are not as effective for stressed students in comparison to programs that focus on providing opportunities for them to interact with therapy dogs.
The results came after researchers measured executive function in 309 students. Executive function is a term for the skills needed to plan, organize, motivate, concentrate and memorize.
In the three-year study, students were randomly assigned to one of three academic stress-management programs. They all featured varying combinations of human-animal interaction and all of the dogs and volunteer handlers were provided through Palouse Paws.
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IMAGE: Enzo, a Labrador retriever and experienced therapy dog, enjoys some attention and relaxation during the WSU stress management study with students. view more
Credit: Washington State University
For college students under pressure, a dog may be the best stress fighter around.
Programs exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students thinking and planning skills more effectively than programs that included traditional stress-management information, according to new Washington State University research.
AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. The paper demonstrated that stressed students still exhibited these cognitive skills improvements up to six weeks after completion of the four-week-long program.
Benefits of Petting a Therapy Dog Last for Weeks After Cuddle Sessions, Study Finds
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Harley, a therapy dog who provides emotional support for healthcare workers in Mexico City, wearing a diving type half mask for dogs in a photo taken in September 2020. (Photo: Marco Ugarte, AP)
Though no one may have needed a study to tell them this, new research has found that therapy dogs are indeed good boys and girls. The experiment found that these dogs helped sharpen the cognitive skills of stressed college students weeks after they took part in a petting program, to an even greater degree than other stress management options offered on campus.
May 12, 2021
Enzo, a Labrador retriever and experienced therapy dog, enjoys some attention and relaxation during the WSU stress management study with students.
By Scott Weybright, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
For college students under pressure, a dog may be the best stress fighter around.
Programs exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students’ thinking and planning skills more effectively than programs that included traditional stress-management information, according to new Washington State University research.
The study was published on May 12 in the journal AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. The paper demonstrated that stressed students still exhibited these cognitive skills improvements up to six weeks after completion of the four-week-long program.
Petting therapy dogs can reduce anxiety, enhance thinking skills in stressed students ANI | Updated: May 12, 2021 15:47 IST
Washington [US], May 12 (ANI): Pet your stress away! For college students under pressure, spending time petting a therapy dog can work as the best stress buster.
The study was published in AERA Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.
According to the new Washington State University research, programs exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students thinking and planning skills more effectively than programs that included traditional stress-management information.
The study demonstrated that stressed students still exhibited these cognitive skills improvements up to six weeks after completion of the four-week-long program.