New research confirms: having a dog in the house significantly reduces the risk of a child developing anxiety disorders
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous
That's right: the presence of a four-legged friend at home greatly reduces the risk of a child developing anxiety disorders. In short, dogs not only guarantee a stronger immune system, not only are they the best friends in case of autism, not only in their company our children grow up healthier in general, but they are also healthier for our children.anti-anxiety par excellence.
This is supported by a study by a group of scientists from Bassett Medical Center in New York conducted on 643 children with an average age between 6 and 7 years. The aim was to record the anxiety levels of the participants with and without dogs and the results showed that in the group of children who owned a dog, 58% of the total children considered, only 12% tested positive in an anxiety screening test. In the other group, however, 21% of the children were anxious.
"Pets, especially dogs, could reduce childhood anxiety, especially social anxiety and separation anxiety," the authors write, explaining that a dog can stimulate conversation between children and has an effect. " icebreaker ”which can relieve social anxiety.
The reason why? Interacting with a dog it would reduce cortisol levelsprobably through the release of oxytocin, which reduces physiological responses to stress. From here, a whole series of hormonal effects would arise that would be the basis of the emotional and behavioral benefits that are observed, for example, in pet therapy.
This conducted in the States is just a study "observational”, Aimed at identifying the association of two factors but not the cause-effect relationship, so the authors still cannot say with certainty that it is exactly the dog that makes children more serene.
Research, therefore, continues, but as far as we are concerned, we are more than convinced - and we do not need scientific confirmation - that dogs improve a child's lifestyle and character. And they make him happy.
Germana Carillo
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