You may have read anecdotal stories about the effect dogs can have on people. Some programs send a pooch to a local nursing home on a regular basis because its presence, even if only for a couple of hours, seems to have a positive effect on the mood of the residents. Some hospitals maintain “comfort dogs” that regularly visit patients. Many anecdotal reports have been verified in correlational research on owning pets in general, not just dogs. Elderly folks who have pets, for instance, appear to make fewer physician visits; pet owners show better survival rates following heart attacks; and those with pets tend to have lower blood pressure and other measures of cardiac stress.
These findings seem to establish a link between pet contact and good health. A link, however, does not establish causation. With this limitation in mind, Karen Allen and her colleagues at the State University of New York at Buffalo conducted a study that found having pets causes health benefits, and not simply that healthier people are more likely to take on the responsibility of pet ownership.
Allen and her colleagues chose as participants stockbrokers with high blood pressure (at least 160/100 as measured by their physicians) who were willing to adopt a pet. From this group, they randomly selected half to adopt a dog or cat for the duration of the study. The other half did not adopt. The results showed that when under stress, brokers who adopted showed a blood pressure increase less than half that of the brokers who did not adopt. Blood pressure increased under stress for all participants, but the increase was significantly smaller for the pet owners.
In another experiment, Allen measured women’s blood pressure while they performed difficult mental calculations. Each woman was randomly assigned to one of three conditions: alone; in the presence of a female friend; or in the presence of their dog. Compared to blood pressure in the alone condition, when friends were present the women had higher blood pressure when doing the task; when the dog was present, however, there was no such increase. In a follow-up study, Allen used the same procedure, but pitted the dog against a spouse-present condition. In the study, when men and women worked on math problems in the presence of their spouse, blood pressure went from 120/80 to 155/100. However, when they worked in the presence of their pet, the math task took blood pressure to an average of only 125/83.
The math results lend themselves to several interpretations. One simple explanation is that the participants felt a lot of pressure when doing the math problems, and they didn’t want a friend or their spouse to get the impression that they were unable to do the problems. When the dog was present, he’s licking their leg saying, “You’re wondering whether to give me the chicken or beef dinner tonight, right?” The math procedure is probably like trying to make a basketball shot in the presence of your friend, spouse, or your dog. Miss the shot and those humans will know you’re lousy (even though they’ll give you the old “good try” comment). The dog? He’ll run after the ball yelling “Throw it to me again! This is fun!”
Are we saying that the key to good physical and psychological health is to run out and get a dog or cat? Absolutely not. First of all, not all studies find health benefits of having a pet. Second, remember that when it comes to effective coping, one size rarely fits all. But if having a pet fits your lifestyle, and if you’re willing to invest your time and effort toward its welfare, the benefits may well be worth your time. Only you can decide.
Psychology and Stress 