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Emotional Support Animals at College
The ESAs provided mental health benefits that included encouraging
their owners to be in the moment instead of worrying about the past or future,
distracting them from negative thoughts, providing companionship and
the comfort of physical touch, and insisting on attention.
with other students related to the ESA (1 = never, 5 = always); and how their level of
social interaction had been impacted by having an ESA at college (1 = significantly increased,
5 = significantly decreased). The survey also included space to share additional
information (optional) and a request to share the name(s) of their roommate for inclusion
in the study. The survey instrument was developed before conducting the focus
groups and interviews in order to give participants an opportunity to describe both
positive and negative aspects of having ESAs on campus.
The survey for the roommates of ESA owners asked the same demographic questions
(age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, and class standing). Participants were then
asked to describe their positive and negative experiences with their roommate's ESA
and invited to share any additional information they wished. Originally the intention
was to ask roommates close-ended questions about how the ESA had impacted them
and their roommate, but due to concerns expressed by SDS staff these items were
replaced with two open-ended items.
Quantitative Data Analysis
Univariate statistics were computed for the quantitative measures (see Tables 1 and 2,
page 93). Consistent with attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) and Kurdek's (2008) findings
that pets can act as a " secure base " (p. 439), we hypothesized that the amount of
time spent playing or bonding with the ESA would be positively correlated with ESAs
increasing the owner's level of social interactions. Given the small sample size (seven
ESA owners) and the non-normal distribution of responses, the non-parametric
Spearman's Rho test was used to test this relationship using SPSS 25.0 software. We
also explored whether the total amount of time spent with one's emotional support
animal was correlated with the difficulty and competing time demands of juggling the
responsibilities of both the ESA and school.
Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative data from the focus groups and interviews were analyzed using a constant
comparison analysis approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Leech & Onwuegbuzie, 2007).
The first and second authors attended all focus groups and interviews as facilitators.
All meetings were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and checked for accuracy
prior to thematic analysis. After an initial list of codes was identified jointly by the
authors, transcripts were then coded in Microsoft Word separately by the two authors
who had attended the focus groups, and additional codes emerged inductively. The
resulting transcripts and codes were reviewed by the first and second authors, and
themes were identified. Data from the open-ended survey questions were also coded
using the constant comparison approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Any thematic discrepancies
between authors were reconciled through consensus. Afterwards, ESA
92 The Journal of College and University Student Housing

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