Date of Award
5-2019
Document Type
Thesis
Primary Advisor
Cherisse Flanagan
Secondary Advisor
Scott Perkins
Committee Reader
Richard Beck
Abstract
Studies about pet ownership have found higher psychological health in those who own pets (Straede & Gates, 1993), as well as a relationship between attachment to a pet and feelings of support (Stammbach & Turner, 1999). The present study was designed to expand on previous research and to specifically examine the relationship between pet ownership and stress in college students. Two hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1 was that college students who own pets will perceive less stress. Hypothesis 2 was that the perceived level of stress would correlate negatively with the level of attachment to a pet. Participants were 135 students who completed the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Karmack, & Mermelstein, 1983). Sixty-three students qualified via pet ownership and completed the Companion Animal Bonding Scale (Poresky, Hendrix, Mosier & Samuelson, 1987). The majority of participants were female, Caucasian, and 18-19 years of age. Statistical analyses did not provide significant support for either hypothesis 1 or 2. Based on these results, it appears that additional research is needed to further explore the potential impact of pet ownership on the perception and response to stress.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Blanton, Baylee Ray, "Perceived Student Stress in Relation to Attachment Theory with Pets" (2019). Honors College. 59.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/honors/59