DOG THERAPY TECHNICAL REPORT
2015-2016
Written by Diana Lee Brown, BS; Shireen Ady, BS; and Laura Ross, MCHES
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Table of Contents
Overview
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Figure 1: What is your sex?
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Figure 2: What is your ethnicity?
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Figure 3: What is your age?
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Figure 4: What is your class standing?
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Figure 5: Where do you live?
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Figure 6: What is your major?
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Figure 7: Was this your first time using dog therapy?
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Figure 8: How did you hear about dog therapy?
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Figure 9: Pre/ post test Comparison on Happiness
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Figure 10: Pre/post test Comparison on Content
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Figure 11: Top pre test themes impacting happiness ratings________________________14
Figure 12: Top pre test themes impacting content ratings
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Figure 13: Ethnicity pre/post test happiness means comparison
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Figure 14: Ethnicity pre/post test content means comparison
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Figure 15: Class standing pre/post test happiness means comparison
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Figure 16: Class standing pre/post test content means comparison
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Figure 17: Age pre/post test happiness means comparison
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Figure 18: Age pre/post test content means comparison
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Figure 19: College pre/post test happiness means comparison
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Figure 20: College pre/post test content means comparison
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A voluntary survey was distributed among students who chose to participate in weekly dog
therapy located outside of Cal State Fullerton’s Student Wellness during the 2015-2016
academic school year. Out of the 608 total survey responses, only 369 included demographic
questions due to a delay in IRB approval. Charts below were obtained from the individuals
whose surveys included questions pertaining to demographics.
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Figure 1:
What is your sex?
20%
Female
Male
80%
Of the 369 total participants whose surveys included demographic questions, 80% (296) were
female and 20% (73) were male.
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Figure 2:
What is your ethnicity?
Hispanic
Asian
White
African American
Other
Native American
1%
3% 3%
39%
25%
29%
Of the 369 total participants whose surveys included demographic questions, approximately 39%
(146) of the respondents were Hispanic, and 29% (107) were Asian. Roughly 25% (91) of
participants were White, with the remaining 6% consisting of African and Native Americans, as
well as other ethnicities.
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Figure 3:
What is your age?
12%
18-19
41%
21%
20-21
22-23
26%
24 and older
Of the 369 total participants whose surveys included demographic questions, 67% (249) were
between the ages of 18 to 21 years old. 21% (77) of participants were 22-23 years old, and the
remaining 12% (43) were 24 years of age or older.
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Figure 4:
What is your class standing?
2%
Freshman
4%
Junior
32%
18%
Senior
Sophomore
21%
Graduate
24%
Other
50% (183) of respondents were undergraduates comprised of freshmen and sophomores. 45%
(164) of the respondents were juniors and seniors, with the remaining 6% indicating they were a
graduate student or other.
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Figure 5:
Where do you live?
28%
Off campus
On Campus
72%
Approximately 72% (265) of students who completed the demographic survey indicated that they
live off campus, and roughly 28% (104) of students stated they lived on campus.
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Figure 6:
What is your major?
120
Health and Human
Development
108
100
Humanities and Social Sciences
Business and Economics
80
65
Natural sciences and
Mathematics
60
41
40
38
Communications
34
33
28
15
20
Engineering and Computer
Sciences
Arts
0
College
Undeclared
Out of the 362 students who completed the demographics portion of the survey, the largest
number of respondents were Health and Human Development majors with 30% (108), followed
by Humanities and Social Services with 18% (65), Business and Economics with 11% (41), as well
as Natural Sciences and Mathematics with 9% (34). At least one student from every college listed
in the CSUF university catalog was represented in this survey.
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Figure 7:
Was this your first time using dog therapy?
Yes
43%
No
57%
Over half of the participants (203) who responded to the demographic questions indicated that
this survey was their first time using dog therapy, while the remaining 43% (156) specified that
they had previously participated in dog therapy.
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Figure 8:
How did you hear about dog therapy?
Other
6%
8%
33%
9%
Friend/Faculty
Health Center (SHCC)
Banner
18%
Poster
27%
Flyer
Approximately 45% (161) of the respondents were notified about dog therapy through a faculty
member, friend, or by visiting Student Wellness. 23% (79) of participants stated that they heard
about dog therapy through a poster, banner, or flyer. The remaining 33% (117) of respondents
heard about dog therapy through a different outlet.
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Figure 9:
Pre/post test comparison on happiness
450
424
400
350
320
300
250
Pre-Test
200
83
100
50
Post Test
149 150
150
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1
1
39
20
0
Sad
Somewhat Sad
Neutral
Somewhat
Happy
Happy
Results from the happiness pre/post test dog therapy comparison indicated that students who
pet a dog for five minutes reported feeling happier than before they pet the dog. Out of the 596
participants who completed the post test, only two people reported feeling sad or somewhat sad
after petting a dog for five minutes, compared to 100 people in the pre test. Additionally, there
was roughly a 67% increase in the amount of students who felt happy after dog therapy
compared to five minutes prior. After running a Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient test in SPSS,
there was a significant association between the happiness pre test and the happiness post test
(p=.00).
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Figure 10:
Pre/post test comparison on content
350
286
300
250
215
200
176
159
Pre-Test
150
100
Post-Test
100
89
82
50
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31
26
0
Stressed
Somewhat
Stressed
Neutral
Somewhat
Content
Content
Results from the content pre/post test dog therapy comparison indicated that students report
feeling less stressed and more content after petting a dog for five minutes. Out of the 593
participants who completed the pre test, 51% (304) of students reported feeling stressed or
somewhat stressed after petting a dog for five minutes, as opposed to only 7% (38) of students
in the post test. Furthermore, there was a 44% increase in the number of students who reported
feeling content after participating in dog therapy. After running a Spearman’s Correlation
Coefficient test in SPSS, there was a significant association between the content pre test and the
content post test (p=.00).
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Figure 11:
Top pre test themes impacting happiness ratings
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Academics/School
23
Overall stressed
Tired/Lack of sleep
102
Participants were instructed to identify why they rated their happiness levels as they did on
their pre test in open-ended question format. An overwhelming majority of students who chose
to answer this question fell into the first theme of academics/school, indicating that their
classes, exams, and school projects were affecting their happiness levels. The next two themes
included participants specifying that their happiness levels were affected because they felt
stressed as a whole, or they were tired due to lack of sleep.
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Figure 12:
Top pre test themes impacting content ratings
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Academics/School
Work
Dogs being nearby
199
Additionally, participants were instructed to identify why they rated their content levels as they
did in open-ended question format. A significantly greater number of participants specified that
academics impacted their overall content levels more than any other theme. This demonstrates
how overwhelming levels of stress that stem from exams, classes, and projects have the ability
to drastically influence students. Additional noteworthy pre test themes pertaining to
participant content levels include outside work and dogs being nearby. Students distinguished
that simply having a dog in their presence had the ability to alter their content levels in a
positive manner.
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The graph above depicts a pre/post test comparison of means pertaining to participant
happiness levels categorized by ethnicity. It is clear that regardless of a participant’s ethnicity,
happiness levels subsequently rise after engaging in five minutes of dog therapy. On aa 1-5
scale, the minimum increase in happiness levels was one full rating. White and Hispanic
participant happiness levels increased roughly by 1.5, Asians by 1.6, and African/Native
Americans increasing the most by a rating of 1.67. Dog therapy appears to uniformly impact the
happiness levels of participants with diverse ethnic backgrounds. Happiness pre test scale did
not vary by ethnicity. There was a significant increase from happiness pre test scale to post test.
There were no ethnic differences for happiness post test scale.
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The graph above depicts a pre/post test comparison of means pertaining to participant content
levels categorized by ethnicity. Much like happiness level ratings, content ratings similarly
increase after participants engaged in five minutes of dog therapy, regardless of ethnic
background. The minimum increase in contentment in a 1-5 scale across ethnicities was a 1.3
rating. African Americans exhibited a content increase of 1.5, Asians were the second highest
with an increase of 1.6, and Whites showed the largest increase in content levels by a mean
rating 1.68. Dog therapy additionally appears to uniformly impact content levels of participants
with diverse ethnic backgrounds.
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The means of happiness levels were also compared based on class standing, as pictured in the
graph above. Despite being a lower classman, an upper classman, or a graduate student, all of
the class standing happiness means rose after participation in five minutes of dog therapy. On a
1-5 scale, post test results yielded that graduate student’s happiness levels increase by one full
rating. Senior happiness levels increased by 1.39, juniors by 1.44, sophomores by 1.51, and
freshman with the highest mean increased by a rating of 1.71. Regardless of age, dog therapy
proves to positively impact students of various class standing similarly.
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Additionally, the graph above pictures a means comparison of content levels based on class
standing. Similar to class standing happiness levels, graduate student’s content levels rose by a
rating of 1.19, seniors by a rating of 1.21, juniors by 1.38, sophomores by 1.65, and finally
freshman rose the most in contentment levels by a rating of 1.74. Once again we see that
regardless of a participant’s class standing, dog therapy results in a rise of contentment levels.
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An examination of happiness level means based on age is pictured in the graph above.
Participants aged 18 and 19 exhibited the highest increase in happiness levels by a rating of
1.66. Those aged 20 and 21 rose by a rating of 1.51, and those aged 22 and 23 increased in
happiness levels by a rating of 1.34. Finally, those aged 24 and older increased their happiness
levels by a rating of 1.27 after participating in dog therapy for five minutes. It is critical to note
that with a diversity of ages represented, their happiness level means subsequently rose in a
similar fashion.
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An examination of content level means based on age can be seen in the graph above. The
largest increase in mean contentment levels can be seen in individuals aged 18 and 19, with a
rating of 1.73. Next, those aged 20 and 21 increased by a mean rating of 1.42, those aged 24
and older by 1.31, and lastly 22 and 23 year olds showed a 1.27 increase in contentment levels
after engaging in dog therapy. Despite a variation in the ages of participants, all of the means of
the four age ranges in this survey increased in contentment levels after five minutes of
interaction with a dog.
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The graph above conveys the happiness level means of participants based on their college.
After five minutes of dog therapy, students within the Business and Economics College
increased their happiness level means by a rating of 1.72, with Engineering and Computer
Science participants not far behind with an increased mean of 1.69. The Communication
College had a mean happiness level increase of 1.67, while the college of Science and
Mathematics increased by a rating of 1.58. Regardless of the college participants belonged to,
mean happiness levels increased after a dog therapy post test. It is noteworthy to mention how
the colleges that exhibited the largest mean increase in their post test are colleges that tend to
be known for their high stress classes and material.
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The graph above conveys the content level means of participants based on their college. Similar
to happiness level means, high stress colleges such as Engineering and Computer Science
exhibited a larger increase in content levels with a 1.92 rating, as well as Natural Science and
Mathematics with a mean increase of 1.89. Regardless of the college or major of a participant,
we see a minimum mean increase of 1.24 after five minutes of dog therapy, suggesting an
overall positive impact.
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