Exposure to Stress and Its Reduction Through Human-Horse Interactions

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Date

2024-05

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

Mental health professionals tend to integrate animal therapy sessions along with other treatments for patients suffering from mental disorders and various disabilities. As a result, the direct effect that horses have on humans has yet to be analyzed as an independent method of treatment. Previous horse-human interaction studies have also focused on persons with pre-existing conditions, such as veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, elderly, and at-risk youth. This study aimed to investigate reaction to psychological stress and the subsequent stress reduction after interaction with domestic horses in adults without pre-existing conditions (N=30, Mean Age: 47). Heart rate, blood pressure, and skin galvanization values were collected before and after a stress paradigm in a mixed-gender sample assigned to either control or experimental group. Results show that there were no statistically significant differences between control and experimental groups in physiological stress measures, except for the systolic blood pressure. Contrary to predictions, the experimental group experienced an increase in systolic blood pressure after interaction with the horses compared to the control. Moreover, a negative relationship between age and systolic blood pressure was also found indicating that older participants had higher systolic BP after the trials are completed in both experimental and control groups. Also discussed are the implications of the study results for the effect of short-term equine therapy on acute stress in typical populations.

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Equine Therapy, Human-Animal Interactions, Stress Reduction, Horse, Induced Stress

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