During the last decade it has become more widely accepted that pet ownership and animal assistance in therapy and education may have a multitude of positive effects on humans. Here, we review the evidence from 69 original studies on human-animal interactions (HAI) which met our inclusion criteria with regard to sample size, peer-review, and standard scientific research design. Among the well-documented effects of HAI in humans of different ages, with and without special medical, or mental health conditions are benefits for: social attention, social behavior, interpersonal interactions, and mood; stress-related parameters such as cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure; self-reported fear and anxiety; and mental and physical health, especially cardiovascular diseases. Limited evidence exists for positive effects of HAI on: reduction of stress-related parameters such as epinephrine and norepinephrine; improvement of immune system functioning and pain management; increased trustworthiness of and trust toward other persons; reduced aggression; enhanced empathy and improved learning. We propose that the activation of the oxytocin system plays a key role in the majority of these reported psychological and psychophysiological effects of HAI. Oxytocin and HAI effects largely overlap, as documented by research in both, humans and animals, and first studies found that HAI affects the oxytocin system. As a common underlying mechanism, the activation of the oxytocin system does not only provide an explanation, but also allows an integrative view of the different effects of HAI.

No abstract

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 (t1–t5) 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 t4, t5 and the overall stress reaction from t1 to t5 (Area Under the Curve increase; Kruskal–Wallis H-Test, pairwise post hoc comparisons via Mann–Whitney U-Tests). Cortisol levels correlated negatively (rs) 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.

No abstract

The closer the prenatal attachment of a mother to her unborn child, the less symptoms of depression she reports during the last term of pregnancy and postpartum. Therefore, promoting good mother-child attachment during pregnancy might influence the level of postpartum depression.

No abstract

A growing number of teachers in Europe regularly take their dogs with them into the classroom. Limited research points at positive socio-emotional effects of this practice. In this study the effects of a schooldog-teacher-team on socioemotional experiences in school, depression and emotion regulation strategies were investigated in a classroom of third-graders (male n = 12, female n = 13), which had a schooldog present for 1 day per week in comparison with a control class (male n = 11, female n = 10). In contrast to the control class, the dog-class students reported a stronger improvement with regard to positive attitude toward school (repeated measures ANOVA; F = 10.769, df = 1, p = 0.002) and positive emotions related to learning (F = 4.479, df = 1, p = 0.042) over the course of the year. Since a prerequisite of all kinds of effective learning is a positive attitude and mood toward school and learning, the presence of a schooldog-teacher team thus has the potential to support learning.

This exploratory study describes the development of a classification system for dogs' attachment security to caregivers that adheres closely to Ainsworth's seminal methodology. Fifty-nine adult dogs and caregivers participated in a mildly threatening laboratory encounter with a stranger (TS) and the Strange Situation (SSP). Dog and attachment experts adapted Ainsworth's classification system for the behavioral repertoire of the dog. Four potentially comparable patterns of attachment were identified. The proportions of secure and insecure classifications (61% and 39%) were similar to those found in human toddlers. Caregivers' sensitivity to their dogs during the TS procedure significantly differentiated dogs with secure vs. insecure classifications Lower scores on the Active/excited personality scale on the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire-Revised (MCPQ-R) also were related to secure classification. This system now makes it possible to compare directly the effects of human and dog attachment patterns on the health and emotional well-being of humans and dogs.