Beyond the campus context: Reducing stress among students and community members through virtual canine comfort modules

Abstract Research continues to demonstrate the stress-reducing benefits of in-person interactions with therapy dogs, especially among students engaged within educational contexts. However, less is known about the potential of virtual interactions with therapy dogs to reduce stress among post-secondary students and if such benefits might extend to members of the general community. Accordingly, the aim of this study was twofold. First, we explored how a virtual canine-assisted stress-reduction intervention might support well-being among post-secondary students and, second, we extended the model to explore if the intervention might support well-being among non-student community members. Using a two-phased method, we assessed the effects of a 5-min asynchronous virtual canine-assisted intervention (CAI) on self-reports of stress in both students (Phase I; N = 963) and community members (Phase II; N = 122). Results revealed that spending as little as 5 min viewing virtual canine comfort modules significantly reduced participants’ pre-to-post-test self-perceived stress among both post-secondary students and non-student community members. Further, among post-secondary students, women experienced greater reductions in stress compared to male participants. Before the CAI, women had higher stress levels compared to men, but after the CAI, women and men had similar stress levels. The results did not reveal age to be significantly related to the magnitude of student participants’ self-reported stress reduction. Our results have implications both for the field of human-animal interactions and for the delivery of mental health interventions that are low-cost, low-barrier, and easily accessible to diverse individuals.