ASU Dean's Medalist Researches how Therapy Dogs Reduce Stress

Gillian Bryant '14 was the Dean’s Medalist for Arizona State University's Department of Psychology. 
Article from Arizona State University

Not all Sun Devils have two legs. Throughout the academic year, groups like Sparky’s Service Dogs, the Psychology Engagement Team, and Sun Devil Paws help the Arizona State University community de-stress by interacting with trained service dogs.Gillian Bryant

Gillian Bryant, who is the Dean’s Medalist for the Department of Psychology, wondered about how dogs help college students relax.

Bryant joined ASU’s Canine Science Collaboratory and started a research project to answer the question: Do dogs themselves cause a therapeutic effect, or is it caused by something else like novelty?

“Therapy animals seem to help, and I wanted to know if the animals themselves confer relaxing effects,” Bryant said. “I also wanted to investigate whether the novelty of the experience or the use of touch was contributing to relaxation.”

Bryant designed an experiment to compare interacting with a therapy dog event to receiving a massage. There were three groups of participants: a control group who read an article and two experimental groups that interacted with the therapy dogs or had a massage. Bryant had participants report their stress levels and she measured stress levels through heart rate variability with a heart rate armband. Massages were a good comparison because they were novel and involved touch, similar to how people interact with therapy dogs.

The stress levels of all the participants decreased, regardless of whether they interacted with a therapy dog, received a massage or read the article.

“My findings could be a result of demand characteristics, where people respond the way they think the researcher wants them to, but it’s also possible that these university stress-reduction events really help, regardless of what they offer,” she said.

Bryant said she really enjoyed working on her senior thesis and also from the opportunity to connect with the Sun Devil Fitness Center and Sun Devil Paws.
 
When she found out about the opportunity to work in canine cognition, she leapt at it.
 
“A lot of students are attracted to working with dogs because it sounds like fun — which it is — but it actually takes a lot of persistence to carry out a successful honors project. Gillian made life extra difficult for herself by initiating research into the benefits of therapy dogs — something I had never looked into before. All the more kudos to her then for completing such an interesting study. It is great to know that dogs really can help stressed out students,” said Clive Wynne, professor of psychology and director of the Canine Science Collaboratory.
 
In addition to working in the Canine Science Collaboratory, Bryant also worked in the Learning and Development Lab, led by Viridiana Benitez, and as an instructor at the Phoenix Zoo, helping kids foster a love for animals that aren’t traditionally adored, like cockroaches or scorpions.
“When I heard about Gillian winning the Dean's Medal, I was not surprised. For the time that I've known Gillian, first as a student in my class, and then as a research assistant in my lab, she has shown perseverance, a strong work ethic, and a drive for learning,” said Benitez, adding, “Gillian is also very insightful and intellectually curious, and I have no doubt she will be successful in her future endeavors.”
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