Virtual Canine Comfort: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effects of a Canine-Assisted Intervention Supporting Undergraduate Wellbeing

Abstract

Being a university student is known to be a stressful experience, and researchers across studies have reported elevated stress and compromised mental health for university students when compared with findings from the general population. The unexpected disruption to their studies arising from COVID-19 and its corresponding social isolation added to the stress experienced by students. This study assessed the effects of a virtual canine-assisted intervention to support student stress reduction and wellbeing. Participants (n = 467) were recruited from undergraduate psychology classes at a mid-size Western Canadian university and were randomly assigned to either synchronous (i.e., live Zoom) or asynchronous (i.e., pre-recorded YouTube videos) sessions with or without a dog present. An abbreviated, small group dose intervention of five minutes was used and handlers across conditions followed a script that mirrored as closely as possible the dialogue shared during a typical live, in-person visit (i.e., shared information about their dog, asked participants to reflect on their wellbeing, etc.). Measures of wellbeing included 1-item measures of connectedness to campus, loneliness, and stress, the PANAS, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Circumplex Model of Affect, and self-ratings of engagement during the intervention. Results of paired samples t-tests revealed that participants, regardless of condition, reported significant reductions in anxiety, stress, loneliness, and negative affect and more positive emotional states and stronger feelings of connectedness to their campus. Regarding the impact of platform delivery, participants reported greater campus connectedness following their participation in the synchronous conditions; however, type of platform was not associated with other aspects of wellbeing as noted above. As hypothesized, undergraduate students in this study did report feeling less stressed at the end of the intervention when a dog was present. The implications of the findings are discussed within the context of university student wellbeing.