Trial reportAnxiety, stress, and coping2021
Null effects of therapy dog interaction on adolescent anxiety during a laboratory-based social evaluative stressor.
Trial report in Anxiety, stress, and coping, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- The neural and physiological mechanisms of Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI): A systematic review and integrated framework.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- An Idiographic, Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Adolescent-Dog Relationships in the Context of Social Anxiety.Child & youth care forum · 2026Article
- Behavioral Predictors of Adolescent Anxiety During Therapy Dog Interactions Within an Experimental Setting.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy for Anxiety Reduction in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Dog-assisted interventions to support health and wellbeing: a national survey of current practice in England.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Behavior Coding of Adolescent and Therapy Dog Interactions During a Social Stress Task.Veterinary sciences · 2024Article
- Pet Ownership and Family Involvement in Sports and Other Activities.Anthrozoos · 2024Article
- Does Equine Interaction Facilitate Emotional Safety and Learning for College Students within an Agricultural-Based Classroom?European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2023Article
- Feasibility of using ecological momentary assessment to measure the effects of interactions with pet dogs on psychophysiological reactivity in adolescents with social anxiety.Human-animal interactions · 2023Article
- The Research of Standardized Protocols for Dog Involvement in Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Review
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 at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesAnimal-assisted interventions (AAIs) are increasingly popular as treatments to reduce anxiety. However, there is little empirical evidence testing the mechanisms of action in AAIs, especially among adolescents. We examined whether two possible mechanisms, social interaction and/or physical contact with a therapy dog, might reduce anxiety during a social stressor. DESIGN AND
methodsTo test these mechanisms, we randomly assigned 75 adolescents with low, middle, and high levels of social anxiety to complete a laboratory-based social evaluative stressor in one of three conditions: social interaction with a therapy dog (no physical interaction), social plus physical interaction with a therapy dog, or no interaction with a therapy dog. We measured self-reported anxiety and autonomic reactivity during the social stressor to assess the effects of contact with a therapy dog. RESULTS AND
conclusionsWe found no evidence that the presence of a real dog, with or without the opportunity to touch it, reduced anxiety or autonomic reactivity or improved cognitive performance relative to the presence of a stuffed dog in the control condition, regardless of levels of preexisting social anxiety.
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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.