The Impact of Therapy and Pet Animals on Human Stress

Stress can have a deleterious effect on people's mental, physical, and psychological health. There is a growing body of evidence, however, that suggests animals, both as pets and therapy partners, can help mitigate people's stress levels. This book showcases a rich collection of research papers from Human-Animal Interactions. It highlights research pertaining to pets as well as animal-assisted therapy in both school and professional settings. The book also includes a scene-setting introduction and wrap-up conclusion from the editor. Providing comprehensive information on the impact of animals on human stress, this book is a useful resource for anyone interested in human health or human-animal relationships.

Table of Contents:
1: Introduction Part 1: Children 2: The influence of dogs’ presence on children’s performance on cognitive tests: Implications for clinical practice. 3: Sustained Effects of Animal-Assisted Crisis Response on Stress in School Shooting Survivors 4: Psychophysiological effects of human-dog interaction in university students exposed to a stress-induced situation using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) 5: Effects of Human-Animal Interactions on Affect and Cognition 6: Examining the impact of a brief human-canine interaction on stress and attention Part 2: College Students 7: Comparing the Effect of Human-Dog Interactions and Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Self-Report and Physiological Measures of Stress 8: Experimental trial demonstrates effects of animal-assisted stress prevention program on college students’ positive and negative emotion 9: Effect of Pet Interaction on Stress Reduction and Positive Mood Enhancement among Pet-Owners and Non-Owners 10: Oxytocin Responses After Dog and Cat Interactions Depend on Pet Ownership and May Affect Interpersonal Trust 11: Effects of Canine-Assisted Intervention on the Mental Health of Higher Education students: a systematic review. 12: A mixed-methods examination of an on-campus canine-assisted intervention by gender: Women, men, and gender-diverse individuals’ self-reports of stress-reduction and well-being Part 3: Adult Populations 13: Therapy dogs, stress-reduction, and well-being within the detachment: Interviews with law-enforcement personnel 14: Therapeutic horseback riding as a complementary intervention for military service members with PTSD Part 4: Pets 15: Pets on Campus: Best Friend or Bad Decision? 16: The effects of dog-owner relationship on perceived stress and happiness Part 5: Conclusion 17: Conclusion

About the Author :
Lori Kogan, Ph.D. is a Professor of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University. She is the Chair of the Human-Animal Interaction section of the American Psychological Association and Editor of the Human-Animal Interaction Bulletin, an open-access, online publication supported by the American Psychological Association. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, and co-edited books including 'Pet Loss, Grief, and Therapeutic Interventions: Practitioners Navigating the Human-Animal Bond', 'Clinician's Guide to Treating Companion Animal Issues: Addressing Human-Animal Interaction' and 'Career Paths in Human-Animal Interaction for Social and Behavioral Scientists' and given invited presentations on topics related to human animal interactions in both psychology and veterinary medicine venues. She is currently engaged in several research projects pertaining to the intersection of the human animal bond and veterinary medicine.