Companion Animals as Buffer against the Impact of Stress on Affect: An Experience Sampling Study (original) (raw)
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The Pet-Effect in Daily Life: An Experience Sampling Study on Emotional Wellbeing in Pet Owners
Anthrozoös, 2020
The relationship between companion animal ownership and wellbeing has received an increasing amount of scientific attention over the last few decades. Although the general assumption is that individuals benefit from the presence of companion animals (termed the "pet-effect"), recent evidence suggests that the nature of this association is diverse and complex and that many of the studies performed so far are subject to methodological constraints. This study therefore aimed to investigate the pet-effect in the natural setting of pet-owners' daily life. Using the Experience Sampling Method (a signal contingent ecological assessment technique), 55 dog or cat owners reported for five consecutive days, at ten random time-points each day, in the moment whether a pet was present and to what extent they interacted with it. In addition, at each measurement moment they reported on their current positive and negative affect, using 11 mood-related adjectives derived from the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Multilevel regression analyses showed that negative affect was relatively lower at moments when the companion animal was present (vs. absent) (B =-0.09, p = 0.02, 95%CI =-0.16;-0.02). In addition, the level of interaction with a companion animal was positively associated with positive affect (B = 0.04, p < 0.001, 95%CI = 0.01; 0.07). These results are in line with the pet-effect hypothesis in suggesting that the presence of and interaction with companion animals is associated with aspects of emotional wellbeing. More specifically, the presence of a companion animal may buffer against negative feelings, while interacting with a companion animal may generate positive feelings. This differential effect on positive versus negative affect also shows that the pet-effect is not an unequivocal effect. Different aspects of the human-animal relationship may influence different aspects of wellbeing.
Human Animal Interaction Bulletin, 2019
The present study investigated the effect of pet interaction on stress reduction and positive mood enhancement among pet-owners and non-owners. Sample of pet-owners (n = 90) and non-owners (n = 90) was taken from University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore. Both, male and female participants were included in the sample. The instruments used were Short Stress State Questionnaire (Helton, 2004), Brief Mood Introspection Scale (Mayer & Gaschke, 1988) and Pet Interaction Observation Checklist. Data was statistically analyzed by one way Analysis of Variance and Independent Sample t-test. Reduction in stress and increase in positive mood were found for both pet-owners and non-owners for the pet interaction groups as compared to control groups. However, no significant differences were found between the dog interaction group and cat interaction group for both pet owners and non-owners. Moreover, pet-owners had lower scores on stress and higher scores on positive mood after pet interaction as compared to non-owners. Lastly, it was shown that individuals who interacted with pets for more than five minutes had lower scores on stress and higher scores on positive mood as compared to those who interacted for five minutes or less.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Recent studies show evidence that human-dog companionship has healthy effects on humans. For example, findings demonstrate that owning a dog leads to a reduction in stress levels. Aspects that have not been taken into consideration so far are underlying theoretical principles of stress like the sense of coherence (SOC) by Aaron Antonovsky. The SOC consists of psycho-social, biochemical and physical conditions which indicate whether or not inner and outer stimuli are comprehensive, manageable and meaningful to an individual. In addition, it is still unclear if owning a dog affects the subjective assessment of critical life events (CLE), which is associated with the strength of the SOC (the stronger the SOC, the better the handling and assessment of stressful situations). Based on these aspects, the goal of the study was to examine if dog ownership, as well as values of the SOC, have an impact on the subjective evaluation of CLE (including daily hassles as well as unexpected critical ...
Effects of Canines on Humans' Physiological and Perceived Stress
2019
Effects of Canines on Humans’ Physiological and Perceived Stress by Beth Bowin MS, Northeastern State University, 2004 BS, Oklahoma State University, 1983 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Psychology Walden University August 2019 Abstract The bond between pet and owner has been shown to decrease stress-related physical, mental, and emotional disorders by lowering blood pressure and heart rate. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a nonpet canine would have the same effect in reducing physical symptoms of stress as a known dog. Human–animal bond theory, Human pressor test. Data were analyzed using repeated measures, analyses of variance, and t tests. Results indicated that interaction with a strange dog lowered heart rate and blood pressure significantly faster in the experimental group than in the control group. The positive social change implications of this research include policy and procedural acc...
Pet dogs: Does their presence influence preadolescents' emotional responses to a social stressor?
Social Development, 2017
Despite interest in human-animal interaction, few studies have tested whether the presence of a dog facilitates children's emotional responding. Preadolescents (N 5 99) were randomly assigned to complete the Trier Social Stress Test either with or without their pet dog. Children rated their positive and negative affect, and high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) was assessed throughout the session. Children reported higher positive affect when they completed the task with their pet dog, although there were no differences for negative affect or HF-HRV. Children who had more physical contact with their dog at baseline reported higher positive affect. The findings suggest contact with pets is associated with enhanced positive affect.
Animals
The initial months of COVID-19 forced people to quickly adapt to dramatic changes to their daily lives. As a result of the inevitable decrease in access to social support available during the lockdown phase of COVID-19, countless individuals relied upon their companion dogs and cats. Given the strong connections people often have with their companion animals, this study hypothesized that companion dogs and cats would positively impact guardians’ mental health. Anonymous, cross-sectional online surveys were used to test this premise. A total of 5061 responses, primarily females (89%) from the United States (84%), were analyzed. Results suggest that companion animals played a critical role in helping reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, isolation, and loneliness for a majority of pet guardians. Companion animals also helped increase guardians’ experiences of self-compassion, ability to maintain a regular schedule, feel a sense of purpose and meaning, and cope with uncertainty. This...
Effects of Social Support by a Dog on Stress Modulation in Male Children with Insecure Attachment
Frontiers in Psychology, 2012
Up to 90% of children with special education needs and about 40% of children in the general population show insecure or disorganized attachment patterns, which are linked to a diminished ability to use social support by others for the regulation of stress. The aim of the study was to investigate if children with insecure-avoidant/disorganized attachment can profit more from social support by a dog compared to a friendly human during a stressful task. We investigated 47 male children (age 7-11) with insecure-avoidant or disorganized attachment. Social stress was elicited via the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). For one group of children a friendly therapy-dog (n = 24) was present, for one control group a friendly human (n = 10) and for the other control group a toy dog (n = 13). Stress levels of the children were measured via salivary cortisol at five times (t 1-t 5) before, during, and after the TSST-C and subjective reports. The physiological stress response was significantly lower in the dog condition in comparison to the two other support conditions at t 4, t 5 and the overall stress reaction from t 1 to t 5 (Area Under the Curve increase; Kruskal-Wallis H-Test, pairwise post hoc comparisons via Mann-Whitney U-Tests). Cortisol levels correlated negatively (r s ) with the amount of physical contact between the child and dog. We conclude that male children with insecure-avoidant or disorganized attachment profit more from the presence of a therapy-dog than of a friendly human under social stress. Our findings support the assumption that the increasing practice of animal-assisted education is reasonable and that dogs can be helpful assistants in education/special education, since stress interferes with learning and performance in students.
Impact of the human-animal bond on stress
2020
The animal-human bond is quite easily one of the purest bonds that exist out there. A research study was conducted by Swamy, S., Bedi, R., and Dawnak, Y. in order to establish and explore how the animal-human bond impacts an individual’s general stress levels and welfare. A review of literature for some recent papers on the same topic have been included so as to understand the relationship between pets and stress better. The formulated hypothesis was – pets bring about a significant difference in general stress levels. To investigate whether having pets has an effect on an individual’s stress responses, conducted a field study. A survey was conducted in order to get data that was later scored to verify our hypothesis. We identified two independent variables (IV) – sex (at two levels – male and female) and pets (at two levels – people with and without pets). The questionnaire was administered to 60 participants (n = 60), between the ages of 15 to 35. Equal number of males and females...