ABSTRACT When military veterans return from service many are in a state of reintegration from military to civilian life, a transition that can be difficult and stressful. Recent literature supports the use of human–animal interactions to reduce stress. To date there have been few studies that examine the health effects of interacting with dogs specifically in the veteran population. This project evaluated the effect of walking with a shelter dog on psychological and physiological stress indicators in veterans. A randomized repeated measures crossover study was employed. Veterans (n = 33) consented to participate in experimental (dog-walk: four weekly 30-min. sessions) and comparison (human-walk: four weekly 30-min. sessions) conditions. The setting was two animal shelters. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, perceived stress, and salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase (AA), and heart rate variability (HRV) were assessed. Linear mixed models with random intercepts and repeated measurements nested within participants were used for separate analyses of each outcome. The results indicate responses to walking with a dog and a human from week 1 to week 4 were different depending on PTSD symptoms. Walking with a dog or another person led to decreases in cortisol among those with low PTSD symptom severity (p = 0.057 and p = 0.026, respectively). For individuals with high PTSD symptoms, walking with a dog did not significantly change levels of AA, but walking with a person did (p = 0.953 and p < 0.001, respectively). For individuals with lower PTSD symptom, AA did not change significantly (p > 0.05) for either type of walk. HRV data revealed a significant interaction (F(2, 458.74) = 3.505, p = 0.031] between the week number of the walk and dog presence. Average HRV increased for individuals with higher PTSD symptoms from week 1 to week 4 but decreased when they walked with a human. This study provides evidence that walking with a shelter dog affects psychological and physiological stress indicators in veterans. Additional measures and extended monitoring require creative strategies to engage participants after the intervention (e.g., walks) to facilitate assessment of peak responses. Future studies with a larger sample size in multiple shelters should be conducted to validate and extend the current results.

中文翻译：

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退伍军人和庇护犬：检查遛狗干预对生理和创伤后应激症状的影响

摘要 当退伍军人从服役归来时，许多人处于从军队重新融入平民生活的状态，这种过渡可能是困难和压力的。最近的文献支持使用人与动物的互动来减轻压力。迄今为止，很少有研究专门针对退伍军人群体与狗互动对健康的影响。该项目评估了与庇护犬一起散步对退伍军人心理和生理压力指标的影响。采用随机重复测量交叉研究。退伍军人（n = 33）同意参加实验（遛狗：四次每周 30 分钟的会议）和比较（人类步行：四次每周 30 分钟的会议）条件。设置是两个动物收容所。创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 症状、感知压力、评估了唾液皮质醇、α-淀粉酶 (AA) 和心率变异性 (HRV)。将随机截距和重复测量嵌套在参与者体内的线性混合模型用于对每个结果进行单独分析。结果表明，根据 PTSD 症状，从第 1 周到第 4 周对狗和人步行的反应是不同的。与狗或其他人一起散步会导致 PTSD 症状严重程度较低的人的皮质醇降低（分别为 p = 0.057 和 p = 0.026）。对于具有高 PTSD 症状的个体，与狗一起散步并没有显着改变 AA 的水平，但与一个人一起散步会（分别为 p = 0.953 和 p < 0.001）。对于具有较低 PTSD 症状的个体，无论哪种类型的步行，AA 都没有显着变化（p > 0.05）。HRV 数据揭示了显着的相互作用（F(2, 458. 74) = 3.505, p = 0.031] 在步行和狗存在的周数之间。从第 1 周到第 4 周，具有较高 PTSD 症状的个体的平均 HRV 增加，但当他们与人类同行时会降低。这项研究提供的证据表明，与庇护犬一起散步会影响退伍军人的心理和生理压力指标。额外的措施和扩展的监测需要创造性的策略，在干预（例如，步行）后让参与者参与进来，以促进对峰值反应的评估。未来应该在多个避难所进行更大样本量的研究，以验证和扩展当前的结果。这项研究提供的证据表明，与庇护犬一起散步会影响退伍军人的心理和生理压力指标。额外的措施和扩展的监测需要创造性的策略，在干预（例如，步行）后让参与者参与进来，以促进对峰值反应的评估。未来应该在多个避难所进行更大样本量的研究，以验证和扩展当前的结果。这项研究提供的证据表明，与庇护犬一起散步会影响退伍军人的心理和生理压力指标。额外的措施和扩展的监测需要创造性的策略，在干预（例如，步行）后让参与者参与进来，以促进对峰值反应的评估。未来应该在多个避难所进行更大样本量的研究，以验证和扩展当前的结果。