Abstract

This evidence-based practice change pilot project explored college student perceptions of the efficacy of an animal visitation program (AVP) toward reducing perceived stress. Using a quantitative, longitudinal pre- and post-intervention design, a convenience sample of students from a Vermont college were recruited to attend seven-weekly, 90-minute AVP meetings where they interacted with dogs in a casual environment, while practicing mindfulness techniques. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Survey (PSS-10) pre-, intra-, and post-intervention to measure student perceived stress; and the Center for the Study of Animal Wellness Pet Bonding Scale® adapted (CSAWPBS) intra-and post-intervention to measure perceived attachment to the dogs. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant difference between measures on the PSS-10 (P = 0.02) indicating that student perceived stress decreased significantly over time.

Angela Smith

Author Details

Angela Smith, DNP, RN

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Pilot/Exploratory Study

Keywords:

Animal Assisted Interactions, College Students, Mindfulness Techniques

Advisor

Catherine Suttle

Second Advisor

Linda Matheson

Third Advisor

Kimberly Carey

Fourth Advisor

Jeanne-Marie E. Havener

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Capella University

Degree Year

2017

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Date of Issue

2017-09-12

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download

Share

COinS