Anxiety is an emotional experience virtually every human has in life. A little bit of stress is good and induces motivation. However, too much stress brings unwanted anxiety and health problems into someone’s life. Popular treatments for anxiety include lifestyle changes, medicinal drugs, and therapy. These may help decrease or resolve anxiety in the short term but are usually not an all-encompassing cure. The curveballs life throws at us play a big role and can be impossible to control. Another item to add to our repertoire for protection against anxiety can be dogs. That’s right, our furry friends are already the source of joy among many families, and further studies suggest that their presence often leads to reduced stress levels in people.
Measuring Anxiety
Anxiety is not a simple human emotion. It can take many forms, such as an individual symptom related to stress, a diagnosis like General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), or accompanying aspects of medical conditions related to physical and mental illness. Diagnosing excessively problematic anxiety requires critical analysis from a qualified practitioner, self-assessments, questionnaires, and follow-up reports to monitor changes. Patient self-reported symptoms are of crucial importance in identifying anxiety disorders. Computerized adaptive tests, otherwise known as CATs, select and administer only the most informative items for every individual patient. Relatively short questionnaires are beneficial because they are useful for measuring the health status of large samples and are easy to use. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a series of twenty questions asking in-the-moment questions such as how a person feels at the present moment. The empirical assessment of anxiety is essential for evidence-based medicine. Like many psychological constructs, measuring anxiety is complicated and difficult to assign a numerical value. These scales and self-assessments provide insight into understanding anxiety.
Canine Impact Validated
Research has led to widespread recognition of the benefits dogs can have on mental health and anxiety. This is reflected in the ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which has special protections and privileges for service dogs. Legal privileges extend to ESA’s and therapy dogs for their role in helping people combat illness. Having a service dog can help to increase independence and well-being among people with a disability or a chronic health condition. In 2021, twenty-nine studies reviewed 1121 children and youth (or parents representing them) that spanned six countries over a thirty-two-year period. Although the outcomes of the impact of service dogs varied across the studies, 23/29 of them reported an improvement in at least one of the following: physical health, psychological health, social well-being, and dog-owner-bond (Lindsay, et al 2021).
Veterans are a group with a long history of benefitting from service dog teamwork. The use of dogs, compared to other treatments for issues common in the military community, has been extremely successful. A 2019 survey monitored fifteen veterans and their PTSD Therapy with dogs. Improvement in symptoms of anxiety and sleep disturbance in PTSD was reported by all of the fifteen participants in this study. These improvements were noticed in as little as a few weeks of starting the training process with their dogs (Scotland-Cooglan et al, 2019).
In a study conducted by Barker & Dawson (1998), anxiety significantly reduced in hospitalized psychiatric patients by combining animal-assisted therapy with therapy sessions. These interactions with a therapy dog were a “strong, active control for some of the active components of mindfulness training, including activity, attention, social interaction, and short-term anxiety and dysphoria reduction” (p. 246). Canine-human relationships can be extended and utilized for a positive relationship between both species.
Research shows that when we pet a dog, a hormone produced in the hypothalamus, known as oxytocin, is released, and our levels of the stress hormone cortisol dip. A 2018 study at Nova Southeastern examined the effects of interactions between dogs and college students during an exam period (Banks, et al 2018). Fifty-six students completed a self-questionnaire on what they perceived as periods of high anxiety and stress. Then they were introduced to a group of canines, all different breeds, and recorded interactions. Results from this study suggested that interactions between humans and canines were related to lower levels of perceived stress and state anxiety (Banks, et al 2018).
Furthermore, a 2021 survey asked participants a series of demographic questions about race, ethnicity, employment status, education, annual household income, number of dogs they own, and how long they have owned the dog. Participants were separated into two groups and then matched by sex, age, place of residence, and by the perceived negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on their finances, emotions, health, and lifestyle (Martin et. al 2021).
On average, dog owners had a lower depression score, with an average score of 12.01, compared to potential dog owners, with a score of 14.06 (Martin et. al 2021). Dog owners reported to have more positive attitudes towards pets in general.
Human anxiety is both positive and negative. It helps us stay alert and survive potentially life-threatening situations. On the other hand, anxiety inhibits human performance physically, socially, and emotionally. Research has shown that animals could make a difference between controlling anxious feelings and letting them take over. Dogs, specifically, are now seen as both companions AND therapeutic for humans. This is reflected by lower resting heart rates and blood pressure levels than people without dogs. Canine owners report experiencing faster recovery time after psychological or physical stress. Interactions between humans and canines may help reduce levels of anxiety and stress.
Sources
Depression, anxiety, and happiness in dog owners and potential dog owners during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260676
Assessment of patient reported symptoms of anxiety
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.31887/DCNS.2014.16.2/mrose
What do anxiety scales really measure
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10862-022-09973-9
Children & families getting service dog
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1936657420301448
Veterans with PTSD getting & training
https://www.proquest.com/openview/6e3cfa44aee87c3cc8bb3e843ce1ddbd/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=55152
**(https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0260676 )**
“A lower percentage of children with dogs … met the clinical cut-off value of Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED-5) of 3 or more, compared with children without dogs”
Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? (cdc.gov)
“The results demonstrated that a short, 20 min session led to significantly greater pre–post interaction improvements in student well-being, and anxiety in both conditions where there was a dog present”
The Effect of Dog-Assisted Intervention on Student Well-Being, Mood, and Anxiety – PMC (nih.gov)
“The results of this meta-analysis suggest that AAI (animal assisted intervention) can be an effective intervention that can bring about large changes in pain, distress, and anxiety.”
