Long-term benefits of dog ownership: Effects on stress and social behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：越来越多的证据表明，宠物辅助疗法可能对患有身体、情感和发育障碍的儿童有益。此外，人与动物互动（HAI）和拥有宠物与儿童和成人的压力降低、亲社会行为增加和心理健康有关。然而，许多研究问题仍未得到解答。首先，先前研究中与HAI相关的生物机制（如催产素）是否介导了HAI与亲社会行为和压力之间的关系？第二，童年时期养宠物的积极益处是否会对青春期后期和成年早期的生理和行为产生持久影响？第三，个体或群体差异，包括个人和环境特征，以及实验诱导的压力，是否会调节HAI对生物学和行为的影响？拟议的研究将利用96名年龄在18-25岁之间的个人样本来具体解决上述研究问题。受试者将被带到PI的实验室，与一只友好的、不熟悉的狗（实验HAI）进行简短（20分钟）的互动。亲社会行为和压力的指标将通过实验室范例获得。反复收集血浆催产素和唾液皮质醇样本以及心率变异性的测量将使我们能够评估实验性HAI对潜在生物学机制的影响。一半的研究参与者将有童年养狗的历史，另一半以前没有养过宠物。目前没有受试者将与宠物生活在一起。一半的研究参与者将在压力范式之前进行HAI，另一半将在压力范式之后与狗互动，使我们能够确定HAI是否减少了压力的生物标志物，以及压力是否促进了HAI期间催产素的释放。此外，我们将收集所有96名受试者的自我报告和临床访谈数据，包括当前行为和情绪结果（如攻击性、抑郁、亲社会行为）、个人特征（如共情、对动物的态度）和社会环境测量（如最近的压力生活事件、社会支持、家庭特征），这些数据可能会调节或预测HAI对生物学和行为的影响。最后，我们将评估接触狗的时间、对宠物的依恋程度和狗的特征，这些因素可能会预测以前的狗主人在生物学和行为上的个体差异。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is growing evidence that pet-assisted therapies may be beneficial for children with physical, emotional, and developmental disorders. In addition, human-animal interaction (HAI) and pet ownership are associated with lower stress and increased prosocial behavior and psychological well-being in children and adults. However, a number of research questions remain unanswered. First, do biological mechanisms (e.g., oxytocin) associated with HAI in previous studies mediate relationships between HAI and prosocial behavior and stress? Second, do the positive benefits of pet ownership during childhood have lasting effects on biology and behavior in late adolescence and young adulthood? Third, do individual or group differences, including both person and context characteristics, as well as experimentally-induced stress, moderate the effects of HAI on biology and behavior? The proposed study will utilize a sample of 96 individuals aged 18-25 to specifically address the above research questions. Subjects will be brought to the PI's laboratory for a brief (20 minute) interaction with a friendly, unfamiliar dog (experimental HAI). Indices of prosocial behavior and stress will be obtained via laboratory paradigms. Collection of repeated plasma oxytocin and salivary cortisol samples and measures of heart rate variability will allow us to assess the impact of experimental HAI on underlying biological mechanisms. Half of study participants will have a history of childhood dog ownership, and the other half will not have previously owned pets. No subjects will currently live with pets. Half of the study participants will undergo HAI prior to the stress paradigm, and the other half will interact with te dog after the stress paradigm, allowing us to determine whether HAI reduces biological markers of stress, and whether stress facilitates the release of oxytocin during HAI. Moreover, we will collect self-report and clinical interview data from all 96 subjects on current behavioral and emotional outcomes (e.g., aggression, depression, prosocial behavior), person characteristics (e.g., empathy, attitudes towards animals), and measures of social environment (e.g., recent stressful life events, social support, family characteristics) that may moderate or predict the effects of HAI on biology and behavior. Finally, we will assess the timing of exposure to dogs, intensity of attachment to pets, and dog characteristics as factors that may predict individual differences in biology and behavior among prior dog-owners. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: By applying an ecological framework to investigating individual differences in the long-term effects of exposure to pets during childhood on biology and behavior in late adolescence and adulthood, the proposed study could lead to targeted intervention and prevention programs in children at-risk for a variety of emotional and behavioral conditions, including autism, anxiety, depression, social phobia, and antisocial behavior, and could further indicate whether human animal interaction (HAI) in childhood is likely to have long-lasting protective effects on emotional and behavioral disorders in late adolescence and young adulthood.