Title

Pet dogs supporting caregivers of children with special needs

Authors

Sandeep Aggarwal, Vaishali Sharma*, Jaspreet Singh Virdi, Kanwar Shabaz Singh Sandhu, Chetna Jangwal & Ravleen Kaur

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Sandeep Aggarwal - E-mail: drsandeep222@yahoo.co.in
Vaishali Sharma - E-mail: vaishalime92@gmail.com
Jaspreet Singh Virdi - E-mail: drjpsvirdi@gmail.com

Kanwar Shabaz Singh Sandhu - E-mail: kanwarshabaz91@gmail.com
Chetna Jangwal - E-mail: Jangwalchetna.cj@gmail.com
Ravleen Kaur - E-mail: ravleenkaur5@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received January 1, 2026; Revised January 31, 2026; Accepted January 31, 2026, Published January 31, 2026

Abstract

Caregivers of intellectually disabled children often experience high levels of anxiety and this study examines the potential emotional benefits of pet dog ownership in reducing anxiety among these caregivers. Therefore, it is of interest to examine the impact of pet dog ownership on the emotional well-being of caregivers of intellectually disabled children. Conducted in Amritsar, India, with 112 participants, it divided caregivers into two groups: those who owned a dog and those who did not. Anxiety levels were measured using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale before and after 3-6 months of pet ownership. Results showed a significant reduction in anxiety among dog-owning caregivers compared to non-dog owners. Thus, we show the significant reduction in anxiety levels among caregivers who own dogs, offering new insights into how pet ownership can positively affect caregivers' emotional well-being.

Keywords

Anxiety, caregiver support, emotional benefits, intellectual disabilities, pet therapy

Citation

Aggarwal et al. Bioinformation 22(1): 504-507 (2026)

Edited by

Ritik Kashwani

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.