THE INFLUENCE OF A DOG ON MALE-STUDENTS DURING A STRESSOR

The psychological and cardiovascular influence of a friendly, unfamili ar dog on a group of 17 male students was compared to a group of men ( 19) who did not have access to the dog, during a stressor Blood pressu re and heart rate were measured during 4 test conditions (rest, prepar ation, speech task, recovery). State-anxiety was measured before and a fter the preparation and speech task. Subjects from the experimental g roup(E) but not from the control group(C) interacted with a dog during the preparation and speech tasks. The preparation and speech tasks ca used statistically significant increases in cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure, heart rate) (F ((12,22)) = 17.60; p = 0.000), and sta te-anxiety (E-group: (x) over bar(sta1) = 29.8; (x) over bar(sta2) = 4 7.9; t = -6.12; df = 16; p = 0.000, C-group: (x) over bar(sta1) = 31.4 ; (x) over bar(sta2) = 47,0; t = -5.68; df = 18; p = 0.000). No signif icant differences were found between the control and the experimental group with regard to state-anxiety anxiety ((x) over bar(c) = 15.6, (x ) over bar(e) = -18.2; t = 0.63; df = 34; p = 0.533), blood pressure a nd heart rate (F-(4,F-30) = 1.18; p = 0.038), even after controlling f or the effects of daily stress (F-(4,F-29) = 1.427; p = 0.250). It is concluded that a friendly but unfamiliar dog has no significant psycho logical or cardiovascular effect on male students during a speech task in a laboratory setting. Possibly the stress of the speech task and t he laboratory setting overrided the influence of the pet.