1. ANXIETY AND ANIMAL
EXPOSURE
Destiny Woodward
Lewis Clark State College

2. Overview
 Background Literature
 Hypothesis
 Method
 Results
 Discussion
 Questions

3. NOVA

4. Background Literature
 Anxiety most prevalent mental disorder diagnosed
(NIHM, 2005)
 Klemm et al. (2010)
 43 Hospitalized Ante-Partum Women
 15 min AAT or regular group therapy
 Women with AAT lower anxiety

5. Background Literature
 Barker, Knisely, Schubert, Green, and Ameringer
(2015)
 40 children in pediatric unit
 15 min AAT or jigsaw puzzle
 Children with AAT lower anxiety but not pain
 64% participants on analgesic

6. Background Literature
 le Roux and Kemp (2009)
 16 elderly residents of assisted-living community
 Half regular social activities, half interaction with dog

7. Background Literature
 Barker, Pandurangi, and Best (2015)
 35 psychiatric patients for ECT
 15 min AAT or magazines
 Patients with AAT lower anxiety and fear

8. Hypothesis
 I expect to find decrease in anxious symptoms
when participants are exposed to a variety of
animals through a slideshow.

9. Method
 194 participants
 60.3% female
 77.8% White
 Ages: 16-56 (M = 21.82, SD = 7.08)
 Animal Slideshow (Pinkdragon309, 2013)
 GAD-7 (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, Lowe, 2006)

10. Method
 GAD-7 (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, Lowe, 2006)
 Anxiety levels
 “Over the last 2 weeks how often have you been
bothered by the following problems? Feeling nervous,
anxious, or on edge?”
 “Over the last 2 weeks how often have you been
bothered by the following problems? Trouble
relaxing?”
 0 (not at all) – 3 (nearly every day)
 Cronbach’s Alpha = .90

11. Results
 Independent samples t-test
 Hypothesis not supported
 Inverse
 Participants who viewed the animal slideshow had
more anxiety

12. Discussion
 Barker, Pandurangi, and Best (2015)
 Klemm et al. (2010)

13. Discussion
 Limitations
 Two Factor Theory of Emotion (Schacter & Singer,
1962)
 GAD-7 Issues
 Too brief
 No reverse-code
 Strength of stimulus not sufficient for significant effect

14. Discussion
 Conclusion
 Future Research
 Inconsistent findings
 Extraneous variables
 Implications
 Wider implementation
 Medical, Counseling, Children, Elderly
 Mental health support for new demographics

15. Thank You

16. Questions

17. References
 Barker, S. B., Knisely, J. S., Schubert, C. M., Green, J. D., & Ameringer, S. (2015). The effect of an
animal-assisted intervention on anxiety and pain in hospitalized children. Anthrozoös,
28(1), 101-112.
 Barker, S. B., Pandurangi, A. K., & Best, A. M. (2003). Effects of animal-assisted therapy on
patients' anxiety, fear, and depression before ECT. The Journal Of ECT, 19(1), 38-44.
 Klemm, P., Waddington, C., Bradley, E., Bucher, L., Collins, M., Lyons, D. L., & ... Urban, M.
(2010). Inspiring Change: Unleashing animal-assisted therapy. Nursing, 40(10), 12-13.
 le Roux, M. C., & Kemp, R. (2009). Effect of a companion dog on depression and anxiety levels
of elderly residents in a long-term care facility. Psychogeriatrics, 9(1), 23-26
 National Institute of Mental Health. (2005). Any anxiety disorder among adults.
Retrieved Oct. 23, 2015, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-
anxiety-disorder-among-adults.shtml
 PinkDragon309. (2013). Cute animal pictures. Retrieved Oct. 2, 2015, from,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8sBrcRykRw
 Schachter, S. & Singer, J. E. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional
state. Psychological Review, 69(5), 379-399.
 Spitzer R.L, Kroenke K., Williams J.B., Lowe, B. A. (2006). A brief measure for assessing
generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med, 166, 1092-1097.