(Press-News.org) ATLANTA—Animal-assisted therapy can reduce symptoms of anxiety and loneliness among college students, according to researchers at Georgia State University, Idaho State University and Savannah College of Art and Design. Their findings are published in the latest issue of the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health.
The researchers provided animal-assisted therapy to 55 students in a group setting at a small arts college in the Southeast. They found a 60 percent decrease in self-reported anxiety and loneliness symptoms following animal-assisted therapy, in which a registered therapy dog was under the supervision of a licensed mental health practitioner.
Eighty-four percent of the participants reported their interaction with the therapy dog, Sophie, was the most significant part of the program.
The group sessions were held twice monthly during an academic quarter. Students were invited to stop by and interact with the therapy dog as long as they wished, up to two hours. They were allowed to pet, hug, feed, brush, draw, photograph, sit near and play fetch with the therapy dog.
Dr. Leslie Stewart of Idaho State, who led the study, began the research as a Ph.D. student at Georgia State. She collaborated with Drs. Franco Dispenza, Lindy Parker and Catherine Chang of Georgia State and Ms. Taffey Cunnien of Savannah College of Art and Design.
The prevalence of anxiety and loneliness on college campuses has increased, placing extra demands on college counseling centers. Budget strains have made it necessary for these centers to find creative ways to meet the needs of their students.
This study suggests animal-assisted therapy could be an effective way for college counseling centers to meet the growing demands of their students. It is one of the first to apply animal-assisted therapy in a group, college setting and use a systematic form of measurement.
"College counseling centers are also becoming more and more reflective of community mental health agencies," Dispenza said. "That's something that's been noted in the field in probably the last 10 to 15 years. College counseling centers aren't seeing students struggling with academics, which major to pick or how to study. They're coming in with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, pervasive mood disorders and considerable contextual strains that are happening out in the world, such as poverty and experiences of homelessness, as well as a history of medical issues and family health issues."
To become a registered therapy dog, the animal and handler must complete a series of evaluations and courses, which involve their grooming, temperament, previous training and relationship with their handler. Dogs can be ideal therapy animals because they have become so domesticated and the seeming ability to read cues between dogs and humans is probably the most pronounced. For instance, a dog can tell when a human is sad, Dispenza said.
"The presence of a therapy dog facilitates a therapeutic connection between the client and the mental health professional," Parker said. "When you're trying to do mental health work with someone, establishing that therapeutic relationship and rapport is so important. Any way to do it faster or more effectively only helps facilitate the therapeutic process."
INFORMATION:
MADISON, Wis. — Developing invisible implantable medical sensor arrays, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers has overcome a major technological hurdle in researchers' efforts to understand the brain.
The team described its technology, which has applications in fields ranging from neuroscience to cardiac care and even contact lenses, in the Oct. 20 issue of the online journal Nature Communications.
Neural researchers study, monitor or stimulate the brain using imaging techniques in conjunction with implantable sensors that allow them to continuously ...
WASHINGTON D.C. Oct. 21, 2014 -- The most obvious effects of too much sun exposure are cosmetic, like wrinkled and rough skin. Some damage, however, goes deeper—ultraviolet light can damage DNA and cause proteins in the body to break down into smaller, sometimes harmful pieces that may also damage DNA, increasing the risk of skin cancer and cataracts. Understanding the specific pathways by which this degradation occurs is an important step in developing protective mechanisms against it.
Researchers from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne ...
By analysing DNA extracted from the petrous bones of skulls of ancient Europeans, scientists have identified that these peoples remained intolerant to lactose (natural sugar in the milk of mammals) for 5,000 years after they adopted agricultural practices and 4,000 years after the onset of cheese-making among Central European Neolithic farmers.
The findings published online in the scientific journal Nature Communications (21 Oct) also suggest that major technological transitions in Central Europe between the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age were also associated with ...
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 21, 2014 -- X-ray phase tomography is an imaging technique that uses penetrating X-rays to create volumetric views through "slices" or sections of soft biological tissues, such as tumors, and it offers strongly enhanced contrast compared to conventional CT scans. Yet scientists still do not know which X-ray phase tomography methods are best suited to yield optimized results for a wide variety of conditions.
To answer this question, a large group of researchers in Europe set out to compare three different X-ray phase tomography methods at the ...
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 21, 2014 -- Hikers are generally advised that the weight of the packs they carry should correspond to their own size, with smaller individuals carrying lighter loads. Although petite backpackers might appreciate the excuse to hand off heavier gear to the larger members of the group, it turns out that they may not need the help.
While leading students on extended backpacking trips for Outward Bound, Kansas State University physics professor Michael O'Shea noticed that some of the smaller students could comfortably carry a greater pack weight than ...
VIDEO:
Chapman University has initiated the first comprehensive nationwide study on what strikes fear in Americans in the first of what is a planned annual study. The Chapman Survey on American...
Click here for more information.
ORANGE, Calif. – Chapman University has initiated the first comprehensive nationwide study on what strikes fear in Americans in the first of what is a planned annual study. According to the Chapman poll, the number one fear in America today ...
A team of researchers led by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries have discovered two significant vessels from World War II's Battle of the Atlantic. The German U-boat 576 and the freighter Bluefields were found approximately 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Lost for more than 70 years, the discovery of the two vessels, in an area known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, is a rare window into a historic military battle and the underwater battlefield landscape of WWII.
"This is not just the discovery of a single shipwreck," said Joe Hoyt, a NOAA sanctuary ...
NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites captured before and after images of Bermuda and surrounding waters before and after Hurricane Gonzalo struck the island on Oct. 17. The images revealed how Gonzalo stirred up the sediment from the ocean bottom.
The MODIS instrument or Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer that flies aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites provided imagery of Bermuda and the stirred sediment. In a comparison of imagery before and after Hurricane Gonzalo passed, the after image showed sediment streaming east and south of Bermuda. The MODIS instrument ...
Slow-moving Tropical Storm Ana was still affecting parts of Hawaii on Oct. 20 when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead from its orbit in space. Imagery from Aqua showed that wind shear was affecting the storm.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible picture of Tropical Storm Ana over Hawaii on Oct. 20 at 23:55 UTC (7:55 p.m. EDT). The image showed that most of the clouds and showers were north and east of the center of circulation, pushed away from the center by strong southwesterly wind ...
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Publicly traded corporations are increasingly publishing social responsibility reports for investors, who now consider such information alongside traditional financial data before investing in a company.
But according to new research from a University of Illinois expert in financial reporting and financial statement analysis, less-numerate investors are more susceptible to style and presentation effects of the reports, potentially leading them to make unintended judgments about the company.
W. Brooke Elliott, a professor of accountancy at Illinois, ...
