Pet dogs: Does their presence influence preadolescents' emotional responses to a social stressor?

Despite interest in human–animal interaction, few studies have tested whether the presence of a dog facilitates children's emotional responding. Preadolescents (N = 99) were randomly assigned to complete the Trier Social Stress Test either with or without their pet dog. Children rated their pos...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social development (Oxford, England) England), 2018-02, Vol.27 (1), p.34-44
Main Authors: Kerns, Kathryn A., Stuart‐Parrigon, Kaela L., Coifman, Karin G., van Dulmen, Manfred H. M., Koehn, Amanda
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
affect
Animal human relations
Child psychology
Children
Dogs
emotion
Emotional responses
Emotions
family relations
Heart rate
middle childhood
Negative emotions
Pets
Physical contact
Positive emotions
Social response
Social stress
stress
Variability
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Summary:Despite interest in human–animal interaction, few studies have tested whether the presence of a dog facilitates children's emotional responding. Preadolescents (N = 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.
ISSN:0961-205X
1467-9507
DOI:10.1111/sode.12246