A pilot study of academic burnout and stress in undergraduate students: the role of canine-assisted interventions

Burnout, often linked to increased stress, can impact student mental health, academic success, and overall well-being. To investigate animal-assisted interventions' (specifically a canine-assisted intervention; CAI) impact on student stress and burnout, a free CAI event was held on campus prior to final exams (n = 41). Self-selecting participants completed the School Burnout Inventory (SBI; Salmela-Aro et al. 2009) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarch, and Mermelstein 1983) before and after the event. Results showed a reduction in self-reported levels of stress and burnout from before to after the CAI. The impact of self-determined duration of attendance showed that those who attended the CAI for longer had a greater reduction in stress than did those who spent less time at the event. The findings suggest that CAI events can reduce perceived student burnout, alongside stress, strengthening arguments for CAIs utilisation in academic settings, and considers how the duration of CAI engagement may benefit different students.