Stress reduction and attachment in military veterans: Benefits of the veteran-canine bond

This research focused on the relationship between interactions with dogs and stress levels among veterans who had been previously deployed to a war-zone. As well, it considered attachment as a potential moderator of the relationship between veterans' time spent in proximity to their dogs and stress levels. Of the 51 adults who participated in the study, approximately half had a companion dog, and half did not. All participants completed the following five measures: A Demographic Survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Quality of Life Scale, the ECR-R, and the Pet Relationship Scale. Results of the research did not support any of the five hypotheses. More specifically, dog owners did not report lower levels of stress when compared with non-dog owners. Further, those who owned a dog did not report lower levels of stress or better quality of life while spending more time with their dogs in comparison with dog owners who reported spending less time with their dogs. Attachment style was not supported as a moderating variable between time spent in proximity to a dog and reduced levels of stress. Although the sample size was small, it is possible that, even with a larger sample size, the results would have been the same. Because the participants did not report elevated levels of stress, they may not have needed companion dogs for support, and thus, they may not have been representative of the larger, more general population of veterans returning from war zones. Also, this study used companion dogs, and not service dogs, which is likely an important factor because service dogs are trained to help in specific areas, including providing help to veterans suffering from stress after war deployment, whereas companion dogs may or may not be.