Human-animal interaction: understanding the role of dog and cat interactions in emotional wellbeing (opens in new tab)

Companion animals are often assumed to benefit human emotional wellbeing, yet empirical evidence for this effect and the proposed stress-buffering mechanism underlying this effect is heterogeneous. This study examined whether momentary interaction with a companion animal is associated with pet owners’ positive and negative affect in daily life, and whether these interactions buffer the affective impact of stress. We further tested whether these associations differ between interacting with dog...