Department of Educational Science, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 23;18(9):4492. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094492.
Both, in the transition to university and during it, students experience a multitude of different changes. Thus, it is no surprise that many students in higher education report suffering from mental health problems. To address their concerns, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have gained more and more attention over the past few years. Nonetheless, AAIs have neither yet been used nor researched at German universities. Two studies were carried out to address this issue. In Study I, 709 university students answered a questionnaire evaluating their attitude towards dogs, AAIs and interest in its use at their home university. In Study II, 27 students participated in a dog-assisted intervention (DAI) in which they were allowed to interact with a qualified dog for 15 min. To gain information about their well-being, blood pressure was measured and the Basler Befindlichkeitsskala had to be answered before and after the intervention. Results showed a positive attitude among German students toward dogs, AAIs, and the use of DAIs at their home university. Although an effect on physical well-being could not be found, results showed that a 15-min DAI can improve students' psychological well-being. Thus, higher education administrators should consider using DAIs as a way to improve student well-being.
无论是在向大学过渡期间还是在大学期间，学生都会经历许多不同的变化。因此，许多高等教育的学生报告患有心理健康问题也就不足为奇了。为了解决这些问题，动物辅助干预（AAIs）在过去几年中受到了越来越多的关注。尽管如此，德国的大学既没有使用过也没有研究过 AAIs。进行了两项研究来解决这个问题。在研究 I 中，709 名大学生回答了一份问卷，评估他们对狗、AAIs 的态度以及对在自己所在大学使用 AAIs 的兴趣。在研究 II 中，27 名学生参加了一项狗辅助干预（DAI），他们被允许与一只合格的狗互动 15 分钟。为了了解他们的幸福感，测量了他们的血压，并在干预前后回答了巴塞尔幸福感量表。结果表明，德国学生对狗、AAIs 以及在自己所在大学使用 DAI 持积极态度。虽然没有发现对身体健康有影响，但结果表明，15 分钟的 DAI 可以改善学生的心理健康。因此，高校管理者应该考虑使用 DAI 来提高学生的幸福感。
