PSVII-22 Student stress reduction through equine interaction led with and without a mental health professional within a campus-based mental health program: A preliminary study.

Abstract Students across college campuses are struggling with mental health as suicide is one of the leading causes of death in young adults. As such, alternative approaches from traditional therapeutic interventions for addressing mental health are growing in popularity including the use of animal interaction. While some campuses are now offering mental health programs where licensed mental health professionals use animal interaction for addressing student mental health challenges, others offer interactive opportunities with an animal where students can freely spend time with the animal without the guidance or supervision of a mental health professional. Research has investigated the value of animal interaction on campuses, but studies concerning the impact of the knowledgebase and background of the individual leading the animal interaction within these campus-based mental health programs have yet to be investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the efficacy in reducing stress as observed in cortisol concentrations through equine interaction led by a licensed mental health professional compared to that led by an equine professional within a campus-based mental health program. Participants for the equine interaction led by a mental health professional (n = 3) and by an equine professional (n = 14) were all full-time college students and were recruited using on-campus announcements. Both groups completed one hour of ground-based horse handling. Salivary cortisol was collected from both groups within 10 minutes pre- and post- equine interaction. Data was analyzed using t-tests pre-post sessions within groups and between groups. Statistical significance was declared at P ≤ 0.05 with tendencies at P ≤ 0.10. Results indicated a tendency in cortisol concentration reduction within those students working with the equine professional (P = 0.053), while the same was not observed for those working with the mental health professional (P = 0.421). However, the students working with the mental health professional had significantly lower cortisol concentrations pre- (P < 0.001) and post- (P < 0.001) session when compared to the other group. This may suggest that the presence of the mental health professional prior to the initiation of the equine interaction assisted in reducing stress levels, so that further reduction of stress with the introduction of the horse was insignificant. While, in contrast, the horse was a valuable surrogate for facilitating stress reduction for those students not working with the mental health professional. However, it is important to note that while recruitment efforts were similar for both programs, less students were recruited for the session conducted by the mental health professional, suggesting the stigma associated with therapeutic inventions can be a limiting factor for such campus-based programs. These results can provide insight as campuses work to develop effective mental health programs for students.