Spending just 15 minutes playing with a dog can help lower stress levels for university students, research reveals. Many universities have launched wellbeing initiatives which aim to relieve exam stress by allowing young people to interact with therapy pooches.
To test whether the method can have real biological effects, a study in Thailand measured 122 participants’ stress levels, blood pressure, cortisol and pulse rate before and after they spent time with a dog. The students’ stress levels started to fall even before the dogs were introduced, when the researchers gave participants information about the pets’ names, personality traits and preferred interactions.
Even the expectation that they would soon get to play with the dog therefore appeared to have a positive effect.
After 15 minutes of play, the students’ self-reported stress levels had dropped by around a third. The students’ pule rates and measures of salivary cortisol were also lower.
Writing in the journal PLOS ONE, the researchers led by Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong at Chiang Mai University, said: “These findings underscore the potential utility of incorporating dogs into stress management programs within university settings.”
Scientists also monitored the dogs and found their cortisol levels did not differ throughout the day. Levels would normally beissle highest in the morning and decrease until sleep.
The researchers wrote: “Though not quantified, the dogs appeared to enjoy interacting with the students and showed signs of affection and engagement, which suggests that increased adrenal activity and higher cortisol concentrations were due to positive stimulation and not negative stress.”
The paper noted that stress is prevalent among university students with one study of 822 undergraduates at a private university finding that 23% were diagnosed with mental illness stemming from stress.
Another 2016 study of more than 5,000 student s in 12 countries found 29% reported having contemplated suicide.
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