Pet Your Stress Away Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT02758886

Acronym

PYSA

Enrollment

247

Registered

2016-05-03

Start date

2014-04-30

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2017-12-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Stress, Physiological, Stress, Psychological

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine whether an animal visitation programs on college campuses are effective in the treatment of college student stress reduction during preparation for final examinations.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALAnimal assisted activity

Allowed to interact (e.g. talking, petting, scratching, feeding treats, playing with) live animals

BEHAVIORALAnimal photos

A 10 minute, silent, PowerPoint slide show of a variety of dogs and cats

BEHAVIORALObserving human-animal interaction

Participants watched others participate in petting dogs and cats, while they waited in line for 10 minutes. Participants did not physically touch any animals during this time.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Undergraduate status

Exclusion criteria

* None

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in physiological stress measured via salivary cortisol	On the day of program participation: Once immediately upon waking up, and immediately before and after participation in the assigned 10 minute intervention	Salivary cortisol was measured three times on the day of program participation: immediately upon waking, and immediately before and after participation in the assigned 10 minute intervention
Change in momentary emotion using the experience sampling method questionnaire	Momentary emotion was measured twice, immediately before and after participation in the assigned 10 minute intervention	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Change in physiological stress measured via salivary Alpha-amylase	On the day of program participation: Once immediately upon waking up, and immediately before and after participation in the assigned 10 minute intervention	Salivary alpha-amylase was measured three times on the day of program participation: immediately upon waking, and immediately before and after participation in the assigned 10 minute intervention

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026