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，人与动物的互动（HAI）和养宠物与儿童和成人的压力减轻、亲社会行为和心理健康的增加有关。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（例如催产素）是否介导 HAI 与亲社会行为和压力之间的关系？其次，童年时期养宠物的积极好处是否会对青春期后期和成年早期的生物学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引起的压力）是否会减轻 HAI 对生物学和行为的影响？拟议的研究将利用 96 名 18-25 岁个体的样本来专门解决上述研究问题。受试者将被带到 PI 的实验室，与一只友好的、不熟悉的狗进行短暂（20 分钟）的互动（实验性 HAI）。亲社会行为和压力的指数将通过实验室范例获得。重复收集血浆催产素和唾液皮质醇样本并测量心率变异性将使我们能够评估实验性 HAI 对潜在生物学机制的影响。一半的研究参与者有童年养狗的历史，另一半以前没有养过宠物。目前没有对象会与宠物一起生活。一半的研究参与者将在压力范式之前经历 HAI，另一半将在压力范式之后与狗互动，这使我们能够确定 HAI 是否会减少压力的生物标志物，以及压力是否会在 HAI 期间促进催产素的释放。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，包括当前的行为和情绪结果（例如，攻击性、抑郁、亲社会行为）、个人特征（例如，同理心、对动物的态度）和社会环境指标（例如，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，我们将评估与狗接触的时间、对宠物的依恋强度以及狗的特征，作为可以预测先前养狗者之间生物学和行为个体差异的因素。 公共健康相关性：通过应用生态框架来调查童年时期接触宠物对青春期后期和成年期生物学和行为的长期影响的个体差异，拟议的研究可以为处于各种情绪和行为状况风险的儿童（包括自闭症、焦虑、抑郁、社交恐惧症和反社会行为）制定有针对性的干预和预防计划，并可以进一步表明童年时期的人与动物互动（HAI）是否可能对情绪和行为产生持久的保护作用青春期后期和成年早期的疾病。

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.