{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T04:32:01Z","timestamp":1786422721381,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786406400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study examined changes in high schoolers\u2019 perceived stress, general self-efficacy and cortisol levels after a brief interaction with a certified therapy dog. High school students completed self-report measures of perceived stress and general self-efficacy and provided salivary cortisol samples both before and after a 10-min interaction with a certified therapy dog. Following the interaction, students reported reductions in perceived stress scores, exhibited lower salivary cortisol concentrations and demonstrated increases in self-efficacy scores compared to before the interaction. Although higher self-efficacy scores were observed, general self-efficacy is generally regarded as a stable construct; therefore, these findings may reflect a temporary increase in perceived confidence or well-being rather than a lasting change in general self-efficacy. Overall, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary associations rather than evidence of a causal effect of the therapy dog interaction due to the single-group pre-post design and study limitations. Nevertheless, the results are consistent with previous research suggesting that brief therapy dog interactions may be associated with short-term improvements in psychological and physiological indicators of well-being. Additional controlled studies are needed to determine whether therapy dog interactions produce benefits beyond those attributable to other factors, such as social interaction or time away from academic demands.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1876920","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]],"date-time":"2026-08-11T04:21:44Z","timestamp":1786422104000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Brief therapy dog interactions may increase self-efficacy and lower perceived stress and cortisol in high school students: a preliminary study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Dawn K.","family":"Melzer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sacred Heart University","place":["Fairfield, CT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deirdre M.","family":"Yeater","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Sacred Heart University","place":["Fairfield, CT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Madison","family":"DeRubis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University","place":["Fairfield, CT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christiana","family":"Kohlroser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University","place":["Fairfield, CT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Barbara J.","family":"Pierce","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University","place":["Fairfield, CT, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1037\/0033-295X.84.2.191","article-title":"Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change","volume":"84","author":"Bandura","year":"1977","journal-title":"Psychol. 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