CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 4

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 12 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Effects of an Animal-Assisted Drop-In Program on First-Year University Students’ Trajectory of Psychological Wellbeing

Carr, Alexa M., Pendry, Patricia·2025·Pets
DOI 10.3390/pets2010008
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

(1) Each year, thousands of students leave their pets behind to attend university, often causing separation anxiety and losing a vital stress-coping resource. While many universities offer animal visitation programs (AVPs), their effectiveness in supporting student wellbeing during this transition remains unclear. This randomized controlled trial evaluated psychological mood risk and resilience in a randomly selected sample of first-year university students (n = 145) separated from their childhood pets. (2) Participants were randomly assigned to receive access to a seven-session, biweekly 2 h drop-in program (n = 77) featuring unstructured interactions with therapy dogs or a waitlist control group (n = 68). Assessments of wellbeing were conducted at the start, middle, and end of the semester including depression, anxiety, worry, stress, cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and self-compassion. (3) Regression analyses showed that access to the semester-long drop-in program significantly flattened trajectories of depression (B = −3.05, p = 0.01, d = 0.514), worry (B = −3.92, p = 0.04, d = 0.416), and stress (B = −1.94, p = 0.05, d = 0.386) compared to the control group. Students in experimental conditions also showed improvements in self-compassion (B = 4.03, p < 0.001, d = 0.605). (4) These findings suggest regular access to unstructured drop-in programs featuring therapy dogs may provide valuable psychological support for students adjusting to university life.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/pets2010008

Cites

12 of 12 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 42

  1. Rogers, 2018, Trajectories of Positive and Negative Affect across the Transition to College: The Role of Daily Interactions with Parents and Friends, Dev. Psychol., 54, 2181, 10.1037/dev0000598 · DOI
  2. Carr, 2022, Understanding Links between College Students’ Childhood Pet Ownership, Attachment, and Separation Anxiety during the Transition to College, Anthrozoös, 35, 125, 10.1080/08927936.2021.1963545 · DOI
  3. Binfet, 2017, Reducing University Students’ Stress through a Drop-in Canine-Therapy Program, J. Ment. Health, 27, 197, 10.1080/09638237.2017.1417551 · DOI
  4. Binfet, 2016, Hounds and Homesickness: The Effects of an Animal-Assisted Therapeutic Intervention for First-Year University Students, Anthrozoös, 29, 441, 10.1080/08927936.2016.1181364 · DOI
  5. Kuzara, S., Pendry, P., and Gee, N.R. (2019). Exploring the Handler-Dog Connection within a University-Based Animal-Assisted Activity. Animals, 9. · DOI
  6. Barker, 2016, A Randomized Cross-over Exploratory Study of the Effect of Visiting Therapy Dogs on College Student Stress before Final Exams, Anthrozoös, 29, 35, 10.1080/08927936.2015.1069988 · DOI · Paper page
  7. House, 2018, A Doggone Way to Reduce Stress: An Animal Assisted Intervention with College Students, Coll. Stud. J., 52, 199
  8. Fine, A.H. (2015). Animal Visitation Programs in Colleges and Universities: An Efficient Model for Reducing Student Stress. Handbook on Animal—Assisted Therapy: Foundations and Guidelines for Animal Interactions, Academic Press.
  9. Grajfoner, D., Harte, E., Potter, L., and McGuigan, N. (2017). The Effect of Dog-Assisted Intervention on Student Well-Being, Mood, and Anxiety. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 14. · DOI
  10. Pendry, 2018, Experimental Trial Demonstrates Effects of Animal-Assisted Stress Prevention Program on College Students’ Positive and Negative Emotion, Hum. Anim. Interact. Bull., 6, 81
  11. Klaiber, 2018, Petting Away Pre-Exam Stress: The Effect of Therapy Dog Sessions on Student Well-Being, Stress Health, 34, 468, 10.1002/smi.2804 · DOI · Paper page
  12. Pendry, 2019, Animal Visitation Program (AVP) Reduces Cortisol Levels of University Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial, AERA Open, 5, 2332858419852592, 10.1177/2332858419852592 · DOI
  13. Vandagriff, 2021, Effects of Essential Animal Visitation Program (AVP) Components on Students’ Salivary α-Amylase and Amylase-to-Cortisol Ratios, Anthrozoös, 35, 443, 10.1080/08927936.2021.1996025 · DOI
  14. Pendry, P., Carr, A.M., Gee, N.R., and Vandagriff, J.L. (2020). Randomized Trial Examining Effects of Animal Assisted Intervention and Stress Related Symptoms on College Students’ Learning and Study Skills. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 17. · DOI
  15. Pendry, 2021, Incorporating Human–Animal Interaction into Academic Stress Management Programs: Effects on Typical and at-Risk College Students’ Executive Function, AERA Open, 7, 23328584211011612, 10.1177/23328584211011612 · DOI
  16. Bettis, 2017, Comparison of Two Approaches to Prevention of Mental Health Problems in College Students: Enhancing Coping and Executive Function Skills, J. Am. Coll. Health, 65, 313, 10.1080/07448481.2017.1312411 · DOI
  17. Jau, 2018, How Interaction with Animals Can Benefit Mental Health: A Phenomenological Study, Soc. Work Ment. Health, 16, 20, 10.1080/15332985.2017.1302037 · DOI
  18. Fredrickson, 2013, Positive Emotions Broaden and Build, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 47, 1, 10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00001-2 · DOI · Paper page
  19. Gunnell, 2017, Don’t Be so Hard on Yourself! Changes in Self-Compassion during the First Year of University Are Associated with Changes in Well-Being, Personal. Individ. Differ., 107, 43, 10.1016/j.paid.2016.11.032 · DOI
  20. MacBeth, 2012, Exploring Compassion: A Meta-Analysis of the Association between Self-Compassion and Psychopathology, Clin. Psychol. Rev., 32, 545, 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.06.003 · DOI · Paper page
  21. Smith, 2018, Dog Ownership and Training Reduces Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Increases Self-Compassion among Veterans: Results of a Longitudinal Control Study, J. Altern. Complement. Med., 24, 1166, 10.1089/acm.2018.0179 · DOI
  22. Berkel, 2011, Putting the Pieces Together: An Integrated Model of Program Implementation, Prev. Sci. Off. J. Soc. Prev. Res., 12, 23, 10.1007/s11121-010-0186-1 · DOI
  23. Fournier, A.K. (2019). HAI Dose in Animal-Assisted Intervention. Animal—Assisted Intervention: Thinking Empirically, Springer International Publishing. · DOI
  24. Carr, 2024, Assessing Attendance Frequency and Duration at a Drop-In Animal Visitation Program Among First-Semester University Students Separated from Their Pets, Anthrozoös, 37, 55, 10.1080/08927936.2023.2261281 · DOI
  25. Fine Aubrey, H. (2018). The IAHAIO Definitions for Animal Assisted Intervention and Guidelines for Wellness of Animals Involved in AAI. Handbook on Animal—Assisted Therapy, Elsevier.
  26. Beck, A.T., Steer, R.A., and Brown, G.K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory, The Psychological Corporation. [2nd ed.]. · DOI · Paper page
  27. Nezu, A.M., Ronan, G.F., Meadows, E.A., and McClure, K.S. (2000). Practitioner’s Guide to Empirically—Based Measures of Depression, Springer Science & Business Media.
  28. Wilson, 1997, Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Beck Anxiety Inventory for Patients with Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, Depress. Anxiety, 6, 140, 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6394(1997)6:4<140::AID-DA2>3.0.CO;2-G · DOI · Paper page
  29. Meyer, 1990, Development and Validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Behav. Res. Ther., 28, 487, 10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6 · DOI · Paper page
  30. Brown, 1992, Psychometric Properties of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in a Clinical Anxiety Disorders Sample, Behav. Res. Ther., 30, 33, 10.1016/0005-7967(92)90093-V · DOI · Paper page
  31. Spacapan, S., and Oskamp, S. (1988). Perceived Stress in a Probability Sample of the United States. The Social Psychology of Health, SAGE Publications.
  32. Cohen, 1983, A Global Measure of Perceived Stress, J. Health Soc. Behav., 24, 385, 10.2307/2136404 · DOI · Paper page
  33. Raes, 2011, Construction and Factorial Validation of a Short Form of the Self-Compassion Scale, Clin. Psychol. Psychother., 18, 250, 10.1002/cpp.702 · DOI · Paper page
  34. Pfister, 2013, Easy Methods for Extracting Individual Regression Slopes: Comparing SPSS, R, and Excel, Tutor. Quant. Methods Psychol., 9, 72, 10.20982/tqmp.09.2.p072 · DOI
  35. Park, 2020, Development of Emotion Regulation across the First Two Years of College, J. Adolesc., 84, 230, 10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.09.009 · DOI
  36. Ein, 2018, The Effect of Pet Therapy on the Physiological and Subjective Stress Response: A Meta-Analysis, Stress Health, 34, 477, 10.1002/smi.2812 · DOI
  37. Granger, D.A., and Taylor, M.K. (2020). Salivary Studies of the Social Neuroscience of Human-Animal Interaction. Salivary Bioscience: Foundations of Interdisciplinary Saliva Research and Applications, Springer International Publishing.
  38. Cohen, 1985, Stress, Social Support, and the Buffering Hypothesis, Psychol. Bull., 98, 310, 10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.310 · DOI · Paper page
  39. Sokal, 2021, Effects of Touch on Students’ Stress, Happiness, and Well-Being during Animal-Assisted Activities, J. Educ. Dev., 5, 111, 10.20849/jed.v5i1.887 · DOI
  40. Thelwell, E.L.R. (2019). Paws for Thought: A Controlled Study Investigating the Benefits of Interacting with a House-Trained Dog on University Students Mood and Anxiety. Animals, 9. · DOI
  41. Binfet, 2022, The Importance of Client–Canine Contact in Canine-Assisted Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Anthrozoös, 35, 1, 10.1080/08927936.2021.1944558 · DOI · Paper page
  42. Mueller, 2021, Null Effects of Therapy Dog Interaction on Adolescent Anxiety during a Laboratory-Based Social Evaluative Stressor, Anxiety Stress Coping, 34, 365, 10.1080/10615806.2021.1892084 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Metadata

Authors
Carr, A. M., & Pendry, P.
Affiliations
Department of Human Development, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
ORCID
Venue
Pets
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2025-02-11
Volume
2
Issue
1
Pages
8
ISSN
2813-9372
DOI
10.3390/pets2010008
Cited by
4
References
12
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
Funders
Washington State University CAHNRS Edward E. Graff Scholarship

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review