The presence of a dog attenuates cortisol and heart rate in the Trier Social Stress Test compared to human friends

“Several studies using the TSST have found dogs to be more protective against acute stress hyperreactivity than romantic partners, parents, or close friends [9,17–22].”

“Additionally, Polheber and Matchock (2014) found that college students who spent time with a therapy trained dog before engaging in a stressful task had lower levels of cortisol after and a lower heart rate during the stressful event compared to participants that were accompanied by a human friend.”

“For instance, Polheber and Matchock [85] reported that the company of an unfamiliar dog mitigated the effects of an experimental condition implicating severe social evaluation stress on global physiological stress indicators.”

“This fi nding suggests that interactions with a cat more e ff ectively bu ff er stress than interactions with a dog, contradicting much of the literature (Barker et al., 2015; Kertes et al., 2017; Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“Similarly, Polheber and Matchock [23] reported that undergraduate college students tasked with having to prepare a short presentation demonstrated reduced anxiety both physiologically and behaviorally after participating in human–animal interactive activities.”

“Dog interactions may also contribute positively to the reduction of physiological arousal (Beetz et al., 2012; Polheber and Matchock, 2014; Kertes et al., 2017; Pendry and Vandagriff, 2020; Binfet et al., 2021).”

“blood pressure [29] and heart rate.[31]”

“Previous research in the area of human-animal interaction has shown that both real pets and novel dogs are one of the most important sources of social support due to their non-judgmental nature and are capable of reducing physiological and subjective stress [1,13].”

“Devices from the same product line (“Forerunner” series) have been successfully used to record the HR of participants during laboratory (Polheber & Matchock, 2013; Reid, McMillan, & Harrison, 2011) and field (Avila, Goetschalckx, Vanhees, & Conrelissen, 2014; White, Umpfenbach, & Alpers, 2014)…”

“…emerging evidence indicates that interacting with an animal can attenuate physiological responses related to stress by impacting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis cascade in ways that support adaptive responses through support and appraisal modulation [39], as well as physical touch [40–42].”

“…wellbeing (Wright et al., 2015) of their owner (Allen, Blascovich, Tomaka, & Kelsey, 1991) and others (Wright et al., 2015) and reduce owner stress (Hall & Mills, 2019) perhaps more effectively than a spouse or close friends (Allen, Blascovich, Tomaka, & Kelsey, 1991; Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“The researchers found that non-human social support in the form of a dog served to attenuate salivary cortisol levels and heart rate when compared to the friend (human social support) and control (no social support) conditions [26].”

“Spending time with a friendly dog (E. Friedmann, 2000; Odendaal, 2000) and having a dog present during stressful tasks (Barker, Knisely, McCain, Schubert, & Pandurangi, 2010; Polheber & Matchock, 2014) were associated with reduced stress indicators for human participants.”

“They also enhance cardiovascular health by improving heart rate and blood pressure [27–29], regulate levels of oxytocin [30,31] and cortisol [32,33], and influence the secretion of other mood-related hormones, including serotonin, dopamine, phenylethylamine, endorphins, and prolactin [34–37].”

“Specifically, the presence of a dog seems to be more efficient in reducing physiological stress reactions (heart rate and cortisol level increase to a psychological stressor) than the presence of a friend (Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“The presence of animals has also been associated with a reduction in cortisol levels and an increase in oxytocin, reducing stress-related illnesses (Polheber & Matchock, 2013).”

“Because the presence of a human during a challenging task can create evaluation apprehension that may actually exacerbate the stress response, companion animal-derived social support may be more beneficial for reducing stress reactivity due to their non-judgmental nature [27].”

“Such studies have examined how experimental (e.g., Polheber & Matchock, 2014) and naturalistic (e.g., Gnanadesikan et al., 2024) interactions between people and companion animals affect stress biomarkers such as cortisol, blood pressure, and heart rate, as well as psychosocial measures of stress…”

“…may influence mental well-being by moderating the human physiological response to stress, specifically through attenuation and regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and heart rate response to stress factors (Allen et al., 2002; Fiocco & Hunse, 2017; Polheber & Matchock, 2013).”

“Even just the mere presence of a dog during physical or mental stress tasks can lower blood pressure and heart rate (Allen et al., 2002; Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“The therapeutic bene fi ts of pet ownership have also been reported by others (e.g., Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“When faced with social isolation or exclusion, people tend to have lower stress levels if an animal is present, compared to a human companion (Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“Only three of the included studies provided results for cortisol, with two studies 477 reporting reductions and one study reporting no effect on salivary cortisol at post-test 478 [43,70,71].”

“…and psychological benefits achieved with dogs (e.g., reduced blood pressure, reduced heart rate, diminished sense of loneliness, and reduced pain threshold: Anderson et al., 1992; Polheber & Matchock, 2014; Zasloff & Kidd, 1994; Petersson et al., 1996), one such benefit is linked with arousal.”

“Helping with emotional or mental health difficulties and vision and cognition impairments is also within the purview of assistance animals; see Polheber and Matchock; Sehretal; Hersch; and Gee.(15) However, few of these articles provide an overview of definitions and practices associated with assistance animals, and a…”

“Together with previous reports demonstrating benefits in individuals without known mental health conditions 6–8 these findings suggest that brief human–animal interactions may support emotional regulation beyond therapeutic settings and serve as a low-intensity preventive resource in community…”

“…responses related to stress by impacting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis cascade in ways that support adaptive responses through support and appraisal modulation (Pendry & Vandagriff, 2020), as well as physical touch (Beetz et al., 2012; Binfet et al., 2022; Polheber & Matchock, 2014).”

“[9 ,27,35,44,61] Owners with strong attachment may be particularly vulnerable to the distress associated with behavioral challenges or financial strain.”

“AAIs reduce blood pressure and cortisol levels (Beetz et al., 2011; Krittanawong et al., 2020; Polheber & Matchock, 2014; Vormbrock & Grossberg, 1988; Wood et al., 2018), improve symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety (Grajfoner et al., 2017; Malinowski et al., 2018;…”

“This approach would include a control group and assess the acute effectiveness of the guided rumination and ruminative method to the NAIT or the Trier Social Stress Test (Compare et al., 2016 ; Polheber & Matchock, 2014 ).”