Brief therapy dog interactions may increase self-efficacy and lower perceived stress and cortisol in high school students: a preliminary study.

The present study examined changes in high schoolers' perceived stress, general self-efficacy and cortisol levels after a brief interaction with a certified therapy dog. High school students completed self-report measures of perceived stress and general self-efficacy and provided salivary cortisol samples both before and after a 10-min interaction with a certified therapy dog. Following the interaction, students reported reductions in perceived stress scores, exhibited lower salivary cortisol concentrations and demonstrated increases in self-efficacy scores compared to before the interaction. Although higher self-efficacy scores were observed, general self-efficacy is generally regarded as a stable construct; therefore, these findings may reflect a temporary increase in perceived confidence or well-being rather than a lasting change in general self-efficacy. Overall, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary associations rather than evidence of a causal effect of the therapy dog interaction due to the single-group pre-post design and study limitations. Nevertheless, the results are consistent with previous research suggesting that brief therapy dog interactions may be associated with short-term improvements in psychological and physiological indicators of well-being. Additional controlled studies are needed to determine whether therapy dog interactions produce benefits beyond those attributable to other factors, such as social interaction or time away from academic demands.