Effects on Wellbeing of Exposure to Dog Videos Before a Stressor

Abstract

ABSTRACT Animal-assisted intervention (AAI) has been used as a means of stress relief in clinical and general settings; however, animals are not always allowed in certain spaces. Adapting AAI to video or virtual mediums could improve accessibility and is temporally relevant given the recent shift to online interventions. The current study explored: (1) whether an active video (dog or nature) watched before a stressor would improve wellbeing more than tranquil videos; (2) whether exposure to a dog video improves wellbeing more than a nature video; and (3) whether exposure to either a dog or nature video improves outcomes more than exposure to a control video. One hundred and seven undergraduates were randomly assigned to watch one of five videos (active dog, tranquil dog, active nature, tranquil nature, and control) for 3 minutes and then complete a 3-minute stress task. Subjective (anxiety, stress, happiness, relaxation, positive affect, and negative affect) and physiological (blood pressure and heart rate) outcomes were collected at baseline, video, stressor, and recovery time points. Results showed that the activity level of the dog in the video did not influence outcomes. However, relative to the control group, the dog-video condition showed decreases in stress from baseline to video and a smaller decrease in stress from stressor to recovery. Additionally, relative to the nature-video condition, the dog-video condition showed a slightly higher increase in happiness scores from baseline to video. Lastly, relative to the control group, the nature-video condition showed increased relaxation scores from baseline to video and a larger decrease in relaxation scores from video to stressor. This research may inform the development of alternate modes of AAIs.