Exploratory Study of Stress-Buffering Response Patterns from Interaction with a Therapy Dog.

This exploratory study builds on existing research on the physiological stress response to human-animal interactions in a non-clinical sample of adult dog-owners interacting with their own or an unfamiliar therapy dog under similar conditions. Participants were therapy-dog owners (TDO group; n = 5)...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Anthrozoös Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 79 - 92
Autores principales: Barker, Sandra B., Knisely, Janet S., McCain, Nancy L., Schubert, Christine M., Pandurangi, Anand K.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Mar2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=49893456&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 49893456
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        08927936
        GZF
      jtl: Anthrozoös
      issn: 08927936
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Mar2010
      vid: 23
      iid: 1
      pid: 377
      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
    artinfo:
      ui:
        49893456
        10.2752/175303710X12627079939341
      ppf: 79
      ppct: 13
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Exploratory Study of Stress-Buffering Response Patterns from Interaction with a Therapy Dog.
      aug:
        au:
          Barker, Sandra B.
          Knisely, Janet S.
          McCain, Nancy L.
          Schubert, Christine M.
          Pandurangi, Anand K.
        affil: School of Medicine Center for Human Animal Interaction, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA
      su:
        Human-animal relationships
        Human behavior
        Stress management
        Animal-assisted therapy
        Animal behavior therapy
        Dog behavior therapy
        Health outcome assessment
      sug:
        subj:
          Human-animal relationships
          Human behavior
          Stress management
          Animal-assisted therapy
          Animal behavior therapy
          Dog behavior therapy
          Health outcome assessment
      keyword:
        animal-assisted therapy
        human-animal interaction
        stress
        therapy dogs
        animal-assisted therapy
        human-animal interaction
        stress
        therapy dogs
      ab: This exploratory study builds on existing research on the physiological stress response to human-animal interactions in a non-clinical sample of adult dog-owners interacting with their own or an unfamiliar therapy dog under similar conditions. Participants were therapy-dog owners (TDO group; n = 5) interacting with their own dogs and dog owners interacting with an unfamiliar therapy dog (AAA group; n = 5). Following a 30-minute baseline period, participants completed a stress task followed by a 30-minute dog interaction and then watched a neutral video for 60 minutes. The outcome variable of interest was the bio-behavioral stress response, measured by systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), heart rate (HR), salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and self-report. Trait anxiety and attitudes toward pets were assessed as moderating variables. Results revealed consistent physiological patterns, showing modest increases with the stressor and decreases from baseline following the intervention, for salivary cortisol, SBP, DBP, HR, and self reported anxiety and stress for both groups. In general, although the TDO group tended to perceive less stress and anxiety during the intervention than the AAA group, greater reductions in physiological measures were observed in the AAA group. Positive attitudes toward pets in the total sample of dog owners were associated with decreased levels of self-reported stress (p < 0.05), salivary cortisol, and SBP, while higher levels of trait anxiety were associated with higher levels of salivary cortisol (p < 0.05). In addition, higher levels of trait anxiety were associated with lower levels of autonomic nervous system indicators of stress (HR; SBP, p < 0.05; DBP, p < 0.05). Results support a buffering effect on the stress response associated with owners interacting with their dogs that may extend to interactions with unfamiliar therapy dogs in AAA, and supports the need for replication studies with larger sample sizes.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N