After collecting and assessing the information, the researchers came to know that 12% of the 58% of the children having the furry friends at home were having anxiety and 21% of those not having dogs at home showed signs of anxiety. However, the researchers point out the study – which was published recently in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease – did not prove a cause-and-effect link between dogs and lower anxiety levels in children.
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Before the participants’ annual visit, their parents answered a comprehensive health risk screener with questions regarding their kids’ screen time, mental and physical health, pet status and body mass index (BMI).
“From a mental health standpoint, children aged seven to eight often ranked pets higher than humans as providers of comfort and self-esteem and as confidants”, establishes Headline and Global News.
By creating a bond, stimulating conversation and facilitating social interaction, a canine companion helps to increase levels of oxytocin (the hormone which plays a role in attachment and the mother-child bond) and to reduce levels of cortisol (a hormone which controls our metabolism). “These hormonal effects may underlie the observed emotional and behavioral benefits of animal-assisted therapy and pet dogs”.
School-age children who were exposed to dogs had lower risk of anxiety. The researchers noted that in general, “Pet owners are less likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, and depression than non-pet owners”, and that “pet therapy improves a wide array of mental health disabilities, including axiety, panic, post-traumatic stress, mood, obsessive compulsive and other disorders”.
“Sometimes their (children) first word is the name of their pet”, Anne Gadomski, one of the authors of the study, told NBC News. The research findings have given them a direction for further probe. Examiners are still keen to identify whether it is the presence of dogs that reduces anxiety or whether there is another factor involved which revolves around keeping a pet dog.
Gadomski said her team looked at dogs because there’s so much research on them. She said it doesn’t mean that cats can’t do the same thing.
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Positive associations between having a pet dog and adult health outcomes have been documented; however, little evidence exists regarding the benefits of pet dogs for young children.
