ABSTRACT

There is a growing trend of animal-assisted intervention (AAI) programs on college campuses to improve mental health among college students through human–animal interactions. The purpose of this preliminary research was to evaluate one program to determine if AAI improved participants’ short-term emotional state as well as influenced the quality of the human–animal interaction. Quantitative data were collected using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale and the Human–Animal Interaction Scale. Results indicated a positive change in students’ emotional state after interactions with therapy animals. Time spent interacting with the therapy animals had a significant effect on the human–animal interaction score but no effect on affect. These findings support the utility of human–animal relationships in improving college student mental health.

摘要

在大学校园中，通过人与动物的互动来改善大学生的心理健康的动物辅助干预（AAI）计划的趋势正在增长。这项初步研究的目的是评估一个程序，以确定AAI是否能改善参与者的短期情绪状态以及是否影响人与动物互动的质量。使用正面和负面影响量表和人与动物互动量表收集定量数据。结果表明，与治疗动物互动后，学生的情绪状态发生了积极变化。与治疗动物互动所花费的时间对人畜互动得分有显着影响，但对情感没有影响。这些发现支持人与动物的关系在改善大学生心理健康中的作用。