Oxytocin Pathways and the Health Effects of Human-Animal Interaction

This study investigates the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in human-animal interaction. Children will participate in three conditions involving friendly interactions with dogs, or play with toys at a university laboratory.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HAI
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Pet dog; Behavioral: Unfamiliar dog; Behavioral: Nonsocial control

Detailed Description

Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are neuropeptides that play critical roles in social behavior, cognition, stress physiology, and physical health. OT is released in adult humans and dogs during affiliative forms of human-animal interaction (HAI), and HAI attenuates AVP release in dogs. Thus, HAI may provide a safe and effective approach for stimulating endogenous OT release, and inhibiting endogenous AVP activity. The investigators will recruit a sample of typically developing 8-10 year old children who will engage in structured HAI sessions with a familiar companion dog or unfamiliar dog, compared to a nonsocial control condition.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85721
      • University of Arizona

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 10 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants in this study will include typically-developing children between 8-10 years. Enrollment will be limited to individuals who self-identify as white and not Hispanic or Latino for reasons related to the epigenetic analyses

Exclusion Criteria:

• known medical diseases or injuries involving the central nervous or endocrine systems, major physical abnormalities, seizures, and significant sensory, cognitive, or motor impairments

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: Single

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Concentration of salivary oxytocin (pg/mL)	Concentration of salivary oxytocin measured by immunoassay (pg/mL)	15 minutes
Concentration of salivary vasopressin (pg/mL)	Concentration of salivary vasopressin measured by immunoassay (pg/mL)	15 minutes
Concentration of urinary oxytocin (pg/mL)	Concentration of urinary oxytocin measured by immunoassay (pg/mL)	50 minutes
Concentration of urinary vasopressin (pg/mL)	Concentration of urinary vasopressin measured by immunoassay (pg/mL)	50 minutes
Concentration of salivary cortisol (ug/dL)	Concentration of salivary cortisol measured by immunoassay (ug/dL)	50 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Principal component score reflecting positive affect	Principal component score from frequency and duration of positive affect indicators (smiling, laughing) coded by ethogram. Frequency and duration of smiling and laughing will be combined to report positive affect in an aggregate principal component score.	30 minutes
Principal component score reflecting affiliative social behavior	Principal component score from frequency and duration of affiliative behaviors (physical contact, eye gaze, dog-directed speech) coded by ethogram. Frequency and duration of physical contact, eye gaze, and dog-directed speech will be combined to report affiliative behavior in an aggregate principal component score.	30 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Arizona
• Collaborators: University of Virginia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 8, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 10, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 10, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 19, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 21, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): February 25, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 8, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 4, 2022
• Last Verified: September 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Oxytocin; Cortisol; Vasopressin; Human-animal interaction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1808883345

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No