Dog companionship and cortisol levels in youth. A systematic review and meta-analysis
- Forfatter(e)
- Pena-Jorquera, H., Hernandez-Jana, S., Sanchez-Martinez, J., Espinoza-Puelles, J. P., Martinez-Flores, R., Barreto-Schuch, F., Yanez-Sepulveda, R., Delgado-Floody, P., Ferrari, G., Sadarangani, K. P., Cancino-Lopez, J., Bento-Torres, J., Espinoza-Salinas, A., Stamatakis, E., Cristi-Montero, C.
- År
- 2025
- Tidsskrift
- Social Science & Medicine
- Volum
- 369
- Sider
- 117815
- Kategori(er)
- Angst og engstelighet (inkl. både vansker og lidelse) Medisinske prosedyrer
- Tiltakstype(r)
- Avspenningstiltak (dyreterapi eller avspenning knyttet til medisinske prosedyrer)
- Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Traditional and non-traditional strategies have been employed to improve youth health. Dog-assisted interventions have been proposed as a novel strategy to regulate stress and its consequences across all age groups. This systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis assessed the influence of dog-assisted interventions on cortisol levels in youth and explored potential moderators.
SOURCES
We conducted a comprehensive systematic search across multiple databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ScienceDirect, up to June 17, 2024, to evaluate the impact of dog-assisted interventions on youth cortisol levels. Two reviewers independently extracted and verified data from eligible randomized clinical trials, with a third reviewer ensuring accuracy. Cochrane's RoB 2.0 tool was used to assess the risk of bias. Heterogeneity was analyzed using Q and I
statistics. A random-effects model was employed to calculate effect sizes (ES) using R software.
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS
Significant cortisol reductions were found for interventions lasting >15 min (ES: 0.65; p = .038), with a non-significant trend towards reduced cortisol in non-medical settings (ES: 0.46; p = .070). No significant effects were observed for shorter interventions, different control groups, or age-specific analyses. Meta-regression analysis revealed significant differences, showing better outcomes with longer intervention times and fewer female participants.
CONCLUSION
Dog-assisted interventions lasting >15 min seem to be a promising and non-traditional strategy for regulating cortisol levels in children and adolescents in stressful situations. This study outlines gaps in the research and future directions.