Animal-assisted intervention

1 paper4 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

1 lab in 1 country

Funder: Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province

Outcomes

Loneliness

no changein humans1

1 study

Animal-assisted intervention has no effect on loneliness in humans.
Human trial
Animal-Assisted Interventions Involving Live and Robotic Animals for Depression, Anxiety, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association18 Aug 2026

Anxiety symptoms

no changein humans1

1 study

Animal-assisted intervention has no effect on anxiety symptoms in humans.
Human trial
Animal-Assisted Interventions Involving Live and Robotic Animals for Depression, Anxiety, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association18 Aug 2026

Cognitive function

upin humans1

1 study

Animal-assisted intervention improves cognitive function in humans (SMD 0.72, 95% CI 0.12 to 1.31).
Human trialmeta-analysis of 20 studies
Animal-Assisted Interventions Involving Live and Robotic Animals for Depression, Anxiety, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association18 Aug 2026

Depressive symptoms

downin humans1

1 study

Animal-assisted intervention decreases depressive symptoms in humans (SMD -0.45, 95% CI -0.68 to -0.22).
Human trialmeta-analysis of 20 studies
Animal-Assisted Interventions Involving Live and Robotic Animals for Depression, Anxiety, Loneliness, and Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association18 Aug 2026

Latest

1 in 12 months

Journal of the American Medical Directors Association18 Aug