Gitanjali E Gnanadesikan, Elizabeth Carranza, Katherine M King, Abigail C Flyer, Gianna Ossello, Paige G Smith, Netzin G Steklis, H Dieter Steklis, Jessica J Connelly, Melissa Barnett, Nancy Gee, Stacey Tecot, Evan L MacLean
Although research has shown that pets appear to provide certain types of social support to children, little is known about the physiological bases of these effects, especially in naturalistic contexts. In this study, we investigated the effect of free-form interactions between children (ages 8-10 years) and dogs on salivary cortisol concentrations in both species. We further investigated the role of the child-dog relationship by comparing interactions with the child's pet dog to interactions with an unfamiliar dog or a nonsocial control condition, and modeled associations between survey measures of the human-animal bond and children's physiological responses...
March 13, 2024: Hormones and Behavior