A new study suggests that having a pet dog might lower kids’ chances of experiencing childhood anxiety disorders. The questionnaire asked parents about their child’s screen time, mental and physical health, body mass index (BMI) and whether they owned a pet. The researchers noted that the parents’ mental health could bias their answers, so the parents were also screened for depression.
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Out of those having pet dogs, 12% tested positive on a screening test for potential childhood anxiety. A research conducted by members of the Basset Medical Center, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the Dartmouth Medical School shows some proof to support that fact.
According to the NBC News, the study titled “Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention”, found that children in homes with a friendly canine “score far lower on clinical measures of anxiety”.
A new study shows that kids who have dogs as pets are less anxious, the daily beast reports.
The finding that held true even after the researchers controlled for several variables including poverty level, though they pointed out that the study merely revealed a correlation.
“Because dogs follow human communicative cues”, she said, adding, “they may be particularly effective agents for children’s emotional development”.
“We studied children with dogs because that was the most common pet and allowed us to collect a large sample of children”, explains study author Dr. Anne Gadomski, who is a research scientist as well as an attending pediatrician at Bassett Healthcare Network. Sometimes, children’s first word is not mom and dad, but it’s the name of their pet. They have hand in their better mental and physical health, but little was known about the relationship between children’s health and their pet dogs.
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“A pet dog can stimulate conversation, an ice-breaking effect that can alleviate social anxiety via a social catalyst effect”, Gadomski’s team wrote while not ruling out the possibility of other pets bringing similar effects. She said it doesn’t mean that cats can’t do the same thing.
