The Effect of a Therapy Dog Activity on Employees' Stress, Mood, and Job Satisfaction and Commitment

The Effect of a Therapy Dog Activity on Employees' Stress, Mood, and Job Satisfaction and Commitment

The goal of the current study is to determine if participating in a therapy dog activity is associated with changes in perceived stress, mood, and job satisfaction and commitment. A secondary goal is to explore a potential dose effect of multiple treatments as well as control for novelty effect.

This study will be conducted at Aetna Headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. A pre-post repeated measures design will be used to compare study participant outcomes between a treatment (therapy dog activity) and comparison (low impact physical activity) condition. Outcome variables of interest are perceived stress measured by a stress visual analog scale (SVAS), mood measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), and job satisfaction and commitment measured by an investigator-developed Job Satisfaction Survey (consisting of a combination of existing validated scales). Pet ownership, attitudes toward dogs measured by the Dog Attitude Scale, and trait stress, measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, will be assessed as moderating variables.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Current Aetna employees

Exclusion Criteria:

• Individuals not employed by Aetna. Note:employees are self-selecting to participate, therefore dog fears or allergies are not listed as exclusion criteria.