陪伴犬於在職護理系學生主觀壓力影響之初探

The Effects of the Presence of a Friendly Dog on Psychological Stress in Nursing Students

本研究探討護理系學生在狗的陪伴前後其焦慮及壓力之差異。使用實驗式重測性研究設計，以12位護理系進修部的學生為樣本（皆為女性），同時參與有狗介入及無狗介入二種情況。隨機分為先有狗介入組（n=5）或先無狗介入組（n=7）二組。介入前後使用狀態-特質焦慮量表（STAI）及壓力知覺量表（PSS）做為測量工具。研究結果指出二組在有狗介入時其焦慮及壓力程度皆有降低之情形。成對樣本T檢定（paired-samplet-test）進行事後檢定結果也顯示有無狗介入對壓力有顯著差異，有狗介入比無狗介入的壓力較低。而介入前後對焦慮的影響也有差異，介入後比介入前的焦慮較低。另外，有無狗介入前後交互對焦慮的影響也有差異的存在，有狗介入前後焦慮程度的變化比無狗介入前後焦慮程度的變化較大（M=1.67，SD=5.53）。此研究發現狗的陪伴能夠緩解心理的壓力反應，藉此提供未來運用動物輔助性療法在因應壓力之參考。

This study investigated the differences of nursing students’ anxiety and stress before and after the dog presence. An experimental repeated measure design was used in this study. Twelve nursing students (all female) participated in two study conditions (a dog presence or no dog presence). They were randomly assigned to have either the dog presence first group (n=5) or the non-dog presence first group (n=7). The State - Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were collected before and after the intervention during both conditions. The results indicated that students’ anxiety and stress levels were decreased when the dog was presence in both groups. For paired-sample t-test post hoc comparisons, there was significant difference in stress for either a dog presence or no dog present, and the dog presence stress levels were lower than no dog presence. The differences of anxiety in pre and post interventions were significant, and the post intervention anxiety was lower than pre intervention. Moreover, There were significant differences for interaction between intervention (dog or non-dog) and activity (pre- or post) in anxiety. Anxiety levels changed from pre- to post dog present larger than pre- to post no dog present (M=1.67, SD=5.53). This study found that a dog's companionship can alleviate the psychological stress response, so as to provide the future use of animal-assisted therapy in stress reduction.