Does pet therapy reduce anxiety in clinical settings?

How much does pet therapy actually lower anxiety?

The short answer: it helps, but the size of the effect depends on who you are and the situation. In children, the evidence is clearest. A 2025 randomized trial in a pediatric emergency department found that children who spent about 10 minutes with a therapy dog (alongside standard child-life therapy) had an average anxiety drop of 2.7 points on a 10-point scale, compared to a 1.5-point drop in the control group — that's nearly twice the reduction [2]. More strikingly, 46% of children in the therapy-dog group had a clinically meaningful drop (more than 2.5 points), versus only 23% in the control group [2]. A separate 2026 quality-improvement study reported that toddlers (ages 2–5) showed a 30% reduction in anxiety during procedures when a therapy dog was present [5].

For adults, the picture is more mixed. A 2021 meta-analysis of hospitalized children and teenagers found that animal-assisted therapy significantly reduced pain and blood pressure, but did not find a statistically significant effect on anxiety overall [1]. In patients with psychotic disorders, a 2026 meta-analysis noted that anxiety symptoms did show reductions, but the data were too inconsistent to combine statistically [3]. And for people with dementia, a 2020 Cochrane review found only low-certainty evidence that pet therapy might slightly reduce depressive symptoms, with no clear effect on anxiety [8].

So the bottom line: pet therapy reliably reduces anxiety in children during medical care, but for adults with chronic mental health conditions, the evidence is weaker and less consistent.

Who benefits most from pet therapy?

Children undergoing medical procedures appear to benefit the most. A 2025 study in pediatric dentistry found that children who had a therapy dog present during an invasive procedure reported significantly less postoperative pain, and their heart rates dropped more quickly after stressful events [4]. Another 2022 randomized trial in physically disabled children showed that a pet therapy program significantly reduced both stress and social anxiety scores compared to a control group [10].

Interestingly, a 2026 study found that Hispanic children experienced significant anxiety reductions at all time points during procedures with a therapy dog, while children of other ethnicities did not show the same consistent benefit [5]. This suggests cultural or contextual factors may influence how well pet therapy works.

For adolescents hospitalized with mental health conditions, a 2026 multicenter trial found that animal-assisted therapy improved self-efficacy (confidence in coping) but did not produce a statistically significant reduction in anxiety compared to standard care [6]. And for middle-aged and older adults with schizophrenia, a 2021 randomized trial found that 12 weeks of dog-assisted therapy reduced psychiatric symptoms and stress, but the effect on anxiety specifically was not singled out [7].

In short: the strongest, most consistent benefits are seen in children — especially during painful or scary medical procedures — while evidence for adults and adolescents with psychiatric disorders is more limited.

What are the limitations and caveats?

First, most studies are small. The 2025 emergency-department trial had only 80 children [2], and the 2021 meta-analysis of hospitalized children included just 348 participants across eight studies [1]. Small samples make it harder to detect real effects and increase the chance that results are due to chance.

Second, it's nearly impossible to 'blind' participants or staff in pet therapy studies — everyone knows whether a dog is in the room. This can introduce bias, especially when anxiety is measured by self-report or observer ratings. The 2020 Cochrane review on dementia noted that all included studies were at high risk of performance bias for this reason [8].

Third, the effects may be short-lived. In the 2025 emergency-department trial, the anxiety reduction in the therapy-dog group was no longer significantly different from the control group after 120 minutes [2]. This suggests pet therapy may be best for acute, in-the-moment anxiety rather than long-term relief.

Finally, not all studies find a benefit. A 2021 meta-analysis found no significant reduction in anxiety from animal-assisted therapy in hospitalized children, even though it did reduce pain and blood pressure [1]. And a 2026 systematic review noted that long-term outcomes were mixed and that methodological variability across studies makes comparisons difficult [9].

So while pet therapy is a promising, low-risk complement to standard care, it's not a guaranteed cure for anxiety, and its effects are best understood as short-term and context-dependent.

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