Introduction: Moderate to severe anxiety disorders affect approximately 29% of Americans, and is the primary emotional health concern for college students affecting approximately 42% of students. This paper describes the findings of a single-session animal-assisted therapy (AAT)/mindfulness based intervention on self-report (i.e., state anxiety) and physiological measures (i.e., resting heart rate variability) of anxiety within a college counseling center setting.
Methodology: The 8 participants in this study were predominantly female (n=7), Caucasian (n=6), single/never married (n=8), with a mean age of 19.5 years old (range 18-21 years old). There was a single 10-year-old border collie mix breed canine participating as the therapy animal in the intervention. This study used an exploratory design to explore the influence of an AAT/mindfulness based intervention on self-report and physiological measures of anxiety. Participants engaged in a 20-minute AAT/mindfulness based intervention with a structured interaction with the canine therapy animal. Participants completed pre- and post-test measure of state anxiety using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and pre- and post-test measure of resting heart rate variability (resting HRV). Two measures of resting HRV examined in this study were high frequency HRV (HR-HRV) and root mean square of successive difference (RMSSD). Data analysis was conducted using paired-sample t-tests to examine the differences between pre-test and post-test measures of state anxiety, HRV, and RMSSD.
Main Results: Analysis of the data suggests a significant reduction in self-reported state anxiety, as well as a significant increase in resting heart rate variability, both HR-HRV and RMSSD. A paired-samples t-test indicated there was a statistically significant reduction in state anxiety from pre-test to post-test, t(7) = 6.722, p < 0.05, d = 2.38. A paired-samples t-test indicated there was a statistically significant reduction in HR-HRV from pre-test to post-test, t(7) = 2.719, p < 0.05, d = 0.96. A paired-samples t-test indicated there was a statistically significant reduction in RMSSD from pre-test to post-test, t(7) = 2.854, p < 0.05, d = 1.01.
Principle Conclusions and Implications for Field: Despite a low sample size, the high to very high effect sizes for changes in state anxiety and resting HRV demonstrate the benefit of a single session AAT/mindfulness based intervention on anxiety symptomology. This can be compared to similar mindfulness-only interventions yielding, on average, moderate effect sizes. Future research should replicate this intervention with larger sample and control group.