165 Investigating the benefits of low- and mid-level equine assisted activities on university students’ mental health

Abstract

By most reports, student mental health is on the decline at colleges and universities. Animal assisted activities have been shown effective in improving students’ mental health, but few studies have focused on equine assisted activities (EAA). Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) studied how EAA influenced university students’ mood and anxiety. MSU students (n = 150) were recruited from across campus with posters, social media, and class announcements, to participate in a study at the MSU Horse Teaching and Research Center (HTRC). Students were randomly assigned to 3 groups to perform a 30-min activity at HTRC: guided walk (WALK) down a farm lane with no opportunity for horse interaction and limited horse observation (n = 37); low-level (LL) EAA with a self-guided tour of the HTRC using a farm map and HTRC tour app with opportunity to interact with horses over a fence (n = 37); and mid-level (ML) EAA involving grooming a horse with supervision (n = 39). Pre and post surveys were administered to students immediately before and after completing their activity to compare mood and state anxiety among groups. Mood was measured with the Brief Mood Introspection Scale (BMIS) for Pleasant Unpleasant sub score using 16 items and a 4-point response scale with a possible score range from 16 to 64 and a higher score indicating a more pleasant mood. State anxiety was measuredusing the State -Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI) TM with 20 items on a 4-point response scale and a possible score range from 20 to 80 with a higher score indicating a higher level of anxiety. A repeated-measures ANOVA in SPSS showed that mean mood and state anxiety scores improved significantly between pre and post tests among all 3 groups (F(1, 110) = 165.21, P < 0.001; F(1, 111) = 179.81, P < 0.001, respectively) and at least between 2 groups (F(2,110) = 13.195, P < 0.001; F(2, 111) = 10.08, P < 0.001, respectively). When comparing the improvement in the post versus pre mood score among the 3 groups, the improvement in both the LL-EAA and ML-EAA groups were greater compared with the improvement in the WALK group (3.38, P = 0.048 for LL EAA vs. WALK; 4.35, P = 0.007 for ML EAA vs. WALK). Improvements in state anxiety score were also greater for LL EAA and ML EAA groups compared with the WALK group (−5.36, P = 0.026 for LL EAA vs. WALK; −5.56, P = 0.019 for ML EAA vs. WALK). While all group activities had a positive effect on student mental health, the ability to interact with horses resulted in greater improvement in their current mood and decline in state anxiety.