Universitários que convivem com animais de estimação apresentam menores níveis de ansiedade

Abstract

University students have a high propensity to develop anxiety. It is considered that living with pets can promote both physical and psychological improvements. In this way, the objective was to investigate the effects of living with pets on anxiety in university students. A total of 219 students enrolled in the Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Sciences participated in the study. The Trait-State Anxiety Inventory (IDATE) was applied for anxiety assessment. In addition, some questions regarding to pet ownership (quantity, species and breed) were attached to the IDATE. Data were submitted to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means were compared by the student t test (p <0.05). The majority of participants were classified with moderate anxiety-state. Anxiety was lower in volunteers who reported living with pet, when compared to those who did not live with the pet. Regarding the species, it was observed that the anxiety was lower in the students who live with dogs, when compared to those who do not have an animal. The anxiety levels were lower in those ones who live with one or two animals when compared to students who do not live together to pet. The anxiety in students living with only one animal was lower than those who live with three or more pet. We observed lower anxiety scores in volunteers living with non-breed, pedigree, or even both cases, compared to those who did not live with pet. It is concluded that the living together with pet is related to lower levels of anxiety.