Our Research
We conduct and support research investigating the impact of therapy dog interventions in therapeutic and educational settings.
As many as 33% of students experience Maths Anxiety (MA). We are validating and developing evidence-based Therapy Dog interventions for maths anxiety.
Therapy Dogs & Maths Anxiety
2024 Therapy Dogs & Maths Anxiety
We're building on our 2023 research by evaluating the impact of Therapy Dog interventions on math anxiety.
This time, we're incorporating measures of math proficiency and state anxiety, alongside the CMAS-UK. State anxiety captures immediate feelings of anxiety, contrasting with trait anxiety's broader, long-term measure. We have also improved our design using a control group, which allows us to compare the results of children who participate in therapy dog sessions and those who do not. We've also gained ethical approval for an opt-out approach, facilitating a substantial increase in our sample size and, therefore, our effect size.
2023 Validation Study
Maths anxiety (MA) includes negative feelings regarding math in academic situations and ordinary life (Ashcraft, 2002). MA leads to low achievement and avoidance of careers involving mathematical skills (Moore et al., 2015). Up to 33% of students report experiencing MA (Vayssettese & Rech, 2015). Petronzi et al. (2019) validated the Children's Math Anxiety Scale (CMAS-UK), which demonstrated that children as young as four years old experience maths anxiety.
It has been argued that emotional regulation should be prioritised over mathematical knowledge to reduce MA and boost math attainment. For example, Petronzi et al. (2022) demonstrated the effectiveness of a targeted storybook which normalised math talk and encouraged self-regulation through problem-solving.
Therapy Dogs are well-documented to benefit children's literacy, emotional regulation, and behavioural, social, and gross motor skills (Grové et al., 2021; Pettinato, 2018). To extend the research surrounding emotional regulation in maths, we conducted a pilot study to examine the impact of Therapy Dog interventions on math anxiety.
Working with 25 students aged 4-9, we analysed the impact of 15-minute therapy dog sessions conducted during their math class once per week for two weeks. Their Children's Maths Anxiety Scale (CMAS-UK) was measured before and after the sessions.
The results show a significant decrease of 5 points on the CMAS-UK. These findings support existing research that therapy dogs promote emotional regulation, which reduces anxiety surrounding a particular subject. The findings also confirm that young children experience math anxiety, with slight variation between elementary school year groups. A strength of the intervention is that it did not disrupt the school day and was easily integrated within the classroom setting.
The therapy dog was used to promote a growth mindset (Dweck, 2016) by reducing self-comparison to others: "Riddley works slowly because she does her best work when she doesn't rush." It also encouraged a positive view of mistakes: "Mistakes are Riddley's superpower! She learns twice as much when fixing a mistake."
Using dog-themed games, the math was made concrete and fun (Sánchez-Pèrez, 2021). Emotional regulation through self-reflection was prompted by encouraging children to cuddle the dog when stressed, teaching them to [1] recognize stress in themselves and [2] regulate in response to stress by performing a positive action (i.e. cuddling the dog).
Therapy Dogs Volunteer Intern
If you have a driving license and a suitable dog that can pass the Temperament Assessment, we can place you within educational settings or care homes to gain real-world experience in working with animals and people. Your work will be supervised by a member of the hosting establishment and by the Therapy Dogs team who will write a letter of recommendation on completion of your hours. To support students’ participation in these programs, we will waive the temperament assessment fee. However, students are expected to pay for their transport, and their insurance subscription. We only take interns who we feel possess the character traits and theoretical understanding of their role within the internship. Character traits include a sense of responsibility, ethical understanding, and personal maturity.
Research Assistant
We undertake research projects in animal-assisted education and animal-assisted therapy. If you’re seeking research exposure but aren’t prepared to lead your own project yet, you can apply to join us as a research assistant. This is a chance to acquire practical, hands-on research experience and boost your CV. Send us your CV and cover letter to apply.
Internship Opportunities
We collaborate on evidence-based research projects. We love research, and we love growing the evidence base that supports what we do and improves how we do it. We support research that improves our understanding of animal involvement in interventions, explores the impact of nature connectedness, develops ethical arguments to support animal welfare within therapy, and innovates interventions that can improve the outcomes of animal-assisted interactions. We know that this is a new field in Mauritius, and we want to involve the population in growing the field of animal-assisted therapy and education both locally and internationally.
Topic Ideas
-
How do Mauritians perceive dogs?
-
Are Therapy Dogs visits effective in promoting empathy in the Mauritian population?
-
How do children experience Therapy Dog visits?
-
Do Therapy Dogs enjoy their work?
-
How do care home residents experience therapy dog visits?
-
Are therapy dogs effective in improving the mental well-being of care home residents?
-
What is the impact of Therapy Dogs on exam stress in Mauritian students?
-
Exploring the Mauritian cultural perspective of dogs