Dog helps to reduce stress levels

Petting and cuddling a dog helps children between the ages of seven and twelve to reduce stress. And to feel less restless in stressful situations, such as a public speech on school.

Research

In the research they measured the amount of stress in a child. To do this, the children had to give a speech in public during the research and complete a calculation assignment. These tasks simulate situations from everyday life. These situations usually raise the stress hormone cortisol. They also took a saliva sample before and after the tasks. In such a sample the amount of cortisol can be measured. The children were randomly divided into three groups. The first group did the tasks with their dogs on their side. The second group with their parents in the neighborhood. The third group of children was alone.

“The study shows that children feel much less restless or stressed when they have their dog in the neighborhood. These results differed greatly from the children who had their parents with them or only had to complete the tasks “, says Kertes.

Interaction

This test showed that the cortisol content per child differed depending on the degree of interaction with their dog. “Children who called their dogs to come to them and then cuddle the animal had lower cortisol levels in their saliva. When the dog was walking around or coming to the child on its own, the reduction of the stress level was considerably less. “

According to Kertens, many people think that dogs are good for children. Scientists were not able to determine whether this is actually the case. And how did it work? “How we learn to deal with stress as a child also has consequences for how we as adults deal with stressful situations.”

Chronic hyperventilation

This potentially could also help adults with stress and / or chronic hyperventilation. But this field is still open for research.