The Influence of Interactions with Dogs on Affect, Anxiety, and Arousal in Children

Crossman, Molly K.; Kazdin, Alan E.; Matijczak, Angela; Kitt, Elizabeth R.; Santos, Laurie R.

doi:10.1080/15374416.2018.1520119

Cited by 31 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Studies have found that short-term, unstructured interactions with a therapy dog can significantly reduce self-reported anxiety and distress levels [e.g., (18)]. For example, children with their pet dog or a therapy dog present during a stressful task exhibit lower perceived stress and more positive affect compared to when alone (19), when a parent was present (20), or when a stuffed dog was present (21). In addition to psychological mechanisms, there are social and biological mechanisms at play as well.…”

Section: Psychological Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent randomized controlled trial similarly found that interacting with a therapy dog, for 20 min, two times per week, over a 4-week period resulted in reduced cortisol (basal and diurnal measurement) among typically developing and special needs school children compared to the same duration and length of delivery for a yoga relaxation or a classroom as usual control group (61). However, it is of note that many methodologically rigorous studies have not found significant effects of interacting with a dog on physiological parameters, including salivary cortisol (21,62,63). A recent review of salivary bioscience research in human-animal interaction concluded that significant variation exists with regards to sampling paradigms, storage and assaying methods, and analytic strategies, contributing to variation in findings across the field (57).…”

Section: Biological Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dogs Supporting Human Health and Well-Being: A Biopsychosocial Approach

et al. 2021

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Humans have long realized that dogs can be helpful, in a number of ways, to achieving important goals. This is evident from our earliest interactions involving the shared goal of avoiding predators and acquiring food, to our more recent inclusion of dogs in a variety of contexts including therapeutic and educational settings. This paper utilizes a longstanding theoretical framework- the biopsychosocial model- to contextualize the existing research on a broad spectrum of settings and populations in which dogs have been included as an adjunct or complementary therapy to improve some aspect of human health and well-being. A wide variety of evidence is considered within key topical areas including cognition, learning disorders, neurotypical and neurodiverse populations, mental and physical health, and disabilities. A dynamic version of the biopsychosocial model is used to organize and discuss the findings, to consider how possible mechanisms of action may impact overall human health and well-being, and to frame and guide future research questions and investigations.

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Section: Psychological Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Biological Influencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dogs Supporting Human Health and Well-Being: A Biopsychosocial Approach

et al. 2021

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“…There is an ever-growing reliance on methods perceived to be more valid and objective to assess the changes caused by animal interactions. Measurable physiological assessments, like oxytocin (looking for an increase) and cortisol (looking for a decrease), are becoming almost standard methods to assess stress in both humans and therapeutic animals [53,54,55,56,57,58]. In addition, there are a growing number of studies that assess stress and other aspects of autism using facial recognition, which does not require touching the subject [59,60,61].…”

Section: The Need For Research and Evidence: Connecting The Dots Fmentioning

confidence: 99%

The State of Animal-Assisted Interventions: Addressing the Contemporary Issues That Will Shape the Future

Fine

Beck

2019

IJERPH

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As the worldwide popularity of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) increases, the field is quickly approaching a paradigm shift, adjusting its image to incorporate more evidence-based research and aligning its purpose for advancing a new future. Contemporary critical issues that confront the field today include, but are not limited, to research, animal welfare, practice guidelines, and public policy. This article will provide an overview of the history of AAI and the major milestones that the field has undergone. The current state of AAI research will be scrutinized, and the areas that warrant further study will be recommended. Special attention will be given to the current state of animal welfare in AAI, the research that has been done in the area, and practice guidelines that safeguard animal wellbeing. This article will then discuss how evidence-based research and animal welfare guidelines inform the development of comprehensive professional standards and influence changes in public policy regarding AAI. The authors’ perceptions for the field’s future trajectory will be presented, which will include solutions to move the field in the direction that best advances the human-animal bond in research, practice, and public perception.

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“…This is of particular public interest in light of the rapidly increasing presence of dogs in hospitals, schools, and therapeutic contexts (Barker & Wolen, 2008;Friedmann & Son, 2009;Hosey & Melfi, 2014). These interactions between individuals and unfamiliar dogs can evoke positive mood (Beetz et al, 2012;Crossman et al, 2020) and mitigate behavioral and physiological responses to stress (Odendaal & Meintjes, 2003;Lass-Hennemann et al, 2014;Barker et al, 2016;Fiocco & Hunse, 2017;Ein et al, 2018). However, these effects are not always present (Barker et al, 2003;Maujean et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our aim in the present study was to examine the influence of human-animal interactions on affect and cognitive performance in adults using established methods from the adjacent exposure to nature literature. In Experiment 1, we sought to replicate positive affective effects of HAIs observed in previous research (Beetz et al, 2012;Thelwell, 2019;Crossman et al, 2020) and test whether HAI induces restorative effects on cognition using tasks used in the experience in nature literature (e.g., Berman et al, 2008). We selected tests of cognitive performance used in the nature exposure literature to capture the attentional control and working memory components of directed attention and also a long-term memory task to assess cognitive performance outside of directed attention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of human-animal interactions on affect and cognition

Stevens¹,

Thayer²

2020

Preprint

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Human-animal interaction has clear positive effects on people's affect and stress. But less is know about how animal interactions influence cognition. The aim of this study is to investigate whether interacting with animals improves cognitive performance, specifically executive functioning. To test this, we conducted two experiments in which we had participants self-report their affect and complete a series of cognitive tasks (long-term memory, attentional control, and working memory) before and after either a brief interaction with a dog or a control activity. We found that interacting with a dog improved positive affect and decreased negative affect, stress, and anxiety compared to the control condition. However, we did not find effects of animal interaction on long-term memory, attentional control, or working memory. Thus, we replicated existing findings providing evidence that interacting with animals can improve affect, but we did not find similar improvements in cognitive performance. These results suggest that either our interaction was not of sufficient dose to elicit effects on cognition or the mechanisms underlying effects of human-animal interaction on cognition differ from effects generated by other cognition-enhancing interventions such as exposure to nature. Future research should continue to grow the connection between nature exposure and human-animal interaction studies to build our understanding of cognition in response to animal interactions.

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The Influence of Interactions with Dogs on Affect, Anxiety, and Arousal in Children

Cited by 31 publications

References 50 publications

Dogs Supporting Human Health and Well-Being: A Biopsychosocial Approach

Dogs Supporting Human Health and Well-Being: A Biopsychosocial Approach

The State of Animal-Assisted Interventions: Addressing the Contemporary Issues That Will Shape the Future

Effects of human-animal interactions on affect and cognition

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