ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2018
The effect of a service dog on salivary cortisol awakening response in a military population with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Assistance dogs for military veterans with PTSD: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-synthesis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Individual differences in glucocorticoid regulation: Does it relate to disease risk and resilience?Frontiers in neuroendocrinology · 2020Pooled it
- Psychiatric service dog placements are associated with better daily psychosocial functioning for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2024Trial
- The cortisol awakening response in a 3 month clinical trial of service dogs for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Canine-Assisted Therapy Improves Well-Being in Nurses.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Trial
- Changes in Sleep of Families After the Arrival of an Autism Service Dog.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Animal-assisted resilience in space exploration: a human factors approach to astronaut behavioral health.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Nurses' Best Friend? The Lived Experiences of Nurses Who Utilized Dog Therapy in the Workplace.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Effects of canine-assisted intervention on stress and depression in humans.Journal of animal science and technology · 2025Review
- PTSD assistance dogs: concerns for animal well-being, rights, and justice.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Effects of human-animal interaction on salivary and urinary oxytocin in children and dogs.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- The influence of service dog partnerships on perceived and objective sleep quality for military veterans with PTSD.Frontiers in sleep · 2024Article
- A Preliminary Analysis of Psychiatric Service Dog Placements and Sleep Patterns of Partners of Veterans With PTSD.Anthrozoos · 2024Article
- Salute to Service Dogs.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2023Article
- Potential Mechanisms of Action and Outcomes of Equine-Assisted Services for Veterans with a History of Trauma: A Narrative Review of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Quantifying the emotional experiences of partners of veterans with PTSD service dogs using ecological momentary assessment.Complementary therapies in clinical practice · 2022Article
- Understanding the participation outcomes for persons with disability when partnered with assistance dogs: A scoping review.Australian occupational therapy journal · 2022Article
- Molecular Biomarkers of Adult Human and Dog Stress during Canine-Assisted Interventions: A Systematic Scoping Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Expectations versus experiences of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) service dogs: An inductive conventional content analysis.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2022Article
- The Impact of Service Dogs on Military Veterans and (Ex) First Aid Responders With Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Recent studies suggest a therapeutic effect of psychiatric service dogs for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but are limited by self-report biases. The current study assessed the effect of PTSD service dogs on the salivary cortisol awakening response (CAR) and arousal-related functioning in a population of military veterans with PTSD. Participants included 73 post-9/11 military veterans with PTSD including 45 with a service dog and 28 on the waitlist to receive one. Saliva samples were collected on two consecutive weekday mornings at awakening and 30 min later to quantify the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and its area under the curve (AUCi) in addition to standardized survey measures of anxiety, anger, sleep quality and disturbance, and alcohol abuse. There was a significant main effect of having a service dog on both the CAR and the AUCi, with individuals with a service dog exhibiting a higher CAR and AUCi compared to those on the waitlist. Results also revealed that those with a service dog reported significantly lower anxiety, anger, and sleep disturbance as well as less alcohol abuse compared to those on the waitlist, with medium to large effect sizes. Although those with a service dog reported significantly less PTSD symptom severity, CAR was not significantly associated with PTSD symptoms within or across group. In conclusion, results indicate that the placement of a PTSD service dog may have a significant positive influence on both physiological and psychosocial indicators of wellbeing in military veterans with PTSD. Although clinical significance cannot be confirmed, a higher CAR/AUCi among those with a service dog may indicate better health and wellbeing in this population. Future within-subject, longitudinal research will be necessary to determine potential clinical significance and impact of individual differences.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.