The Pet as an Anxiolytic Intervention

“Other symptomatic indications of physiological effects were anxiety and stress relief, or in physiological terms, the effects of the autonomic nervous system [6].”

“Profound psychological and physiological responses have been recorded in pet owners, including a reduction in blood pressure (Wilson, 1991), reduced numbers of visits to physicians and reduced medication (Heady and Krause, 1999), improved 1-year survival after an acute myocardial infarction (Friedmann and Thomas, 1995…”

“The size of these reductions was similar to differences reported by Wilson (13) for college students whose anxiety scores were measured under varying levels of stress.”

“Wilson, C. C. (1991).”

“In addition, anxiety decreases in the presence of a dog (Wilson 1991) and children having a dog present in their classroom display increased social competence (Hergovich et al. 2002; Kotrschal and Ortbauer 2003).”

“Wilson (1991) conducted a similar study, in which anxiety levels of undergraduate students were measured during three conditions: reading aloud, reading quietly, and interacting with a friendly dog.”

“…of stressors (Baun, Bergstrom, Langston, & Thoma, 1984; Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch, & Messent, 1983; Friedmann, Locker, & Lockwood, 1993; Katcher, 1981; Katcher, Friedmann, Beck, & Lynch, 1983; Straatman, Hanson, Endenburg, & Mol, 1997; Watson, & Weinstein, 1993; C. C. Wilson, 1987, 1991).”

“Other studies have found positive associations between pet ownership and increased psychosocial functioning in men and women of all ages, including those with cancer and AIDS (Levinson 1983; Garrity et al. 1989; Lago et al. 1989; Wilson 1991; Folse et al. 1994; Holcomb et al. 1997; Norris et al. 1999; Siegel et al. 19…”

“Our results contribute to earlier findings that dogs and humans provide social support for each other in stressful situations [43;44].”

“Companion animals represent a way of life for a lot of the people and this relationship provides socialization, mental health, and physical wellbeing: those who own a pet have been shown to display reduction in blood pressure and cholesterol levels, require less medical care, and it has also been reported that there i…”

“Wilson & D. C. Turner (Eds.), Companion animals in human health (pp. 173–186). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. McNicholas, J., & Collis, G. M. (2000). Dogs as catalysts for social interactions: Robustness of the”

“When the effects of interacting with a dog, reading aloud or reading quietly were assessed on measures of anxiety among college students, interacting with a dog or reading quietly lowered both physiological and psychological indicators of anxiety (Wilson, 1991).”

“…of pet ownership have addressed issues of well being including improved mood states (Beck & Katcher, 1983; Beck & Meyers, 1996), social benefits (Messent, 1983; Mugford & M'Comisky, 1975), and relaxation and stress reduction (Friedmann, Katcher, Lynch, & Thomas, 1982; Katcher, 1983; Wilson, 1991).”

“…incidence of depression (Garrity et al., 1989; Francis, 1991; Hart, 1995); facilitating passive benefits such as relaxation and anxiety reduction (Manor, 1991; Wilson, 1991; Glickman, 1992; Rowan & Beck, 1994) and promoting comfort and pleasure (Kidd & Kidd, 1985; Haggerty Davis, 1991; Hart, 1995).”

“…in anxiety during the intervention period is in contrast to earlier controlled studies with pets on anxiety, where the effects of AAT were due to the intervention for non-psychiatric patients (Cole & Gawlinski, 1995; Wilson,1991) and among inpatient psychiatric populations (Barker & Dawson, 1998).”

“…(Akiyama et al., 1986; Serpell, 1991), but several studies have found no such relationship (Friedmann, Katcher, Eaton, & Berger, 1984; Johnson & Rule, 1991; Kidd & Martinez, 1980; Lawton, Moss, & Moles, 1984; St-Yves, Freeston, Jacques, & Robitaille, 1990; Watson & Weinstein, 1993; Wilson, 1991).”

“…et al. 2007; Barker et al. 2010; Beetz et al. 2011), reductions in indicators of negative mood (e.g., anxiety, depression, fear, loneliness) (Wilson 1991; Barker and Dawson 1998; Pepper 2000, Banks and Banks 2002; Barker, Pandurangi and Best 2003; Banks and Banks 2005; Pedersen et al.…”

“Pets are often associated with increased physical and emotional human health, which has led to pet-facilitated therapies (Brodie & Biley, 1999 ; Edney, 1992 ; Hall & Malpus, 2000 ; Jonas & Feline, 1981 ; Nathans-Barel, Feldman, Berger, Modai, & Silver, 2005 ; Wilson, 1991 ).”

“Animals tend to focus and absorb people’s attention in non-threatening ways and are also known to exert a calming or de-arousing influence [17, 18, 108].”

“The psycho-physiological evidence indicates that companion animals impact humans by lowering blood pressure, quieting the autonomic nervous system, calming cardiovascular activity, provoking responses in oxytocin and vasopressin as well as cortisol and promoting physiological relaxation (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Ly…”

“Additionally, in many studies, the physical movements involved in petting and talking to the animals may have increased the blood pressure and heart rates of the participants [69,71,72], obscuring any potential stress-relieving effects.”

“Furthermore, companion animals have been shown to reduce the onset and severity of stress-related conditions (Wilson 1991).”

“The third study suggests that any effects of interactions with a dog on state anxiety could also be reached by other means (Wilson 1991).”

“Numerous experimental studies show a reduction in stress biomarkers or anxiety when a friendly dog is present [27,34], and may reduce stress responses even more than the presence of other supportive people [35].”

“Studies have shown that interacting with an unknown dog reduced blood pressure, lowered anxiety (Wilson 1991), and reduced self-reported depression (Folse 1994) among college students.”

“HUMAN–ANIMAL interaction offers many benefits for both animals and humans [6], [15].”

“The results correspond with earlier studies of anxiety in relation to AAT with pets (Barker & Dawson, 1998; Wilson, 1991; Antonioli & Riveley, 2005).”

“Previous studies have claimed beneficial effects of dog petting compared with reading aloud [6,7,25]; however,”

“…1983; Katcher, 1981; Nagengast, Baun, Megel, & Leibowitz, 1997; Shiloh, Sorek, & Terkel, 2003; Viau et al., 2010; Vormbrock & Grossberg, 1988; Wilson, 1991), much less has been done in the context of forensic interviews (FIs) specifically, and its focus was on the presence of therapy dogs…”

“Interacting with companion animals has also been associated with reduced anxiety levels for non-psychiatric as well as inpatient psychiatric populations (Wilson 1991; Barker and Dawson 1998).”

“These studies measure how animals mitigate the effects of bereavement,(9,10) moderate stress and promote response to treatments,(11-15) normalize physiologic responses,(16-18) enhance childhood development,(19) improve socialization,(20,21) and provide older adults with social support and motivation.(22-28)”

“This would, for example, clarify why a dog had no effect on the anxiety level of young adults when reading quietly but did have an effect when reading out loud [31].”

“Mental health benefits of having a companion animal include decreasing the incidence of depression (Garrity, Stallones, Marx, & Johnson, 1989; Siegel, Angulo, Detels, Wesch, & Mullen, 1999) and anxiety (Wilson, 1991) symptoms and improvement in selfesteem (Brown, 2007).”

“Similar effects were observed when comparing interactions with a dog, with reading aloud or reading quietly (Wilson, 1987, 1991) or when compared to quiet study (Bajorek, 2014).”

“There is now evidence that animal companionship is associated with lower blood pressure and plasma triglyceride levels (5), with a beneficial effect on survival after acute coronary events (6), with increased physical activity (7,8), with improved coping strategies after stressful life events (9–11), with reduced lone…”

“In another study conducted by Wilson (1991), similar results were”

“This would appear to be in line with the likes of Wilson [50] where there was shown to be a positive impact found on participants from a dog interaction condition, however, a parallel effect was also seen by reading quietly.”

“Wilson [204] not available due to COVID-19”

“…helpful ways, lowering blood pressure, quieting the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular activity and promoting physiological relaxation (Friedmann, Katcher, Thomas, Lynch, & Messent, 1983; Odendaal, 1999, 2000; Shiloh, Sorek, & Terkel, 2003; Virues-Ortega & Bruela-Casal, 2006; Wilson, 1991).”

“A number of research studies in disciplines such as psychology (Gage and Christensen, 2001; Staats and Horner, 1999; Wilson, 1991) and sociology (Ray, 1982; Sanders and Arluke, 1993) address various aspects of human–animal companionship.”

“…buffering effect of the dog was not seen when participants held a dog on their laps (Straatman et al. 1997) or were instructed to touch the dog (Wilson 1991) but it was seen in a number of experiments that did not require the participant to touch the dog (e.g., Friedmann et al. 1983; Friedmann…”

“Other positive outcomes have included reduced levels of loneliness [5], stress and anxiety [19].”

“And pet ownership also had a positive effect on mental well-being [19], pet owners showed significantly lower perceived stress [18,20–22], less anxiety [23], and higher self-life satisfaction [24].”

“Empirical evidence to date supports that human –animal interaction decreases blood pressure (Friedmann, Thomas and Eddy 2000), lowers heart rate (DeSchriver and Riddick 1990), reduces anxiety (Wilson 1991), lessens depression (Souter and Miller 2007), and enhances the social environment (Wells and Perrine 2001).”

“Animal companions can complement medical and psychological therapy as part of patients’ normal lives, without additional cost.(14,15) Like all relationships, pet ownership has its risks.”

“Previous reports emphasized the role of dogs and cats as preventers of ill-health showing that pet owners are healthier than non-owners (Parslow et al. 2005; Wells 2009a; Wilson 1991; Serpell 1991; Allen et al. 2002; Anderson et al. 1992; Baun et al. 1984; Dembicki and Anderson 1996; Friedmann et al. 1980; Katcher 198…”

“…human interactions with biological specimens on the macroscale have long been deliberately cultivated and designed (e.g., pet ownership, livestock and agriculture) [3; 8; 18; 51], it was only relatively recently that microscopic biological specimens could be readily manipulated by non-specialists.”

“Similarly, Wilson (1991) found that participants’ state anxiety and blood pressure were significantly lower during interaction with an unknown dog than while reading aloud.”