Social Buffering Research Articles

Exploring the ‘Pet Effect’: Does Playing with Pets Contribute to Owner Wellbeing?

Although many people strongly believe in wellbeing benefits of having pets (the ‘pet effect’), research on the ‘pet effect’ in actuality is highly mixed. Surprisingly, little research has explored the nature of (i.e., specific components of) the human–pet relationship, as a way to explain the contradictory findings. One such component is human–pet play, with play outside of the human–pet relationship being important for wellbeing and social buffering. Thus, the current quantitative study explores whether greater perceived play with pets contributes to greater wellbeing (‘pet effect’) and reduces anxiety during a time of acute stress (social buffering). The study employs a regression design recruiting men and women residing in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic who own a dog and/or cat, with perceived pet play as the key predictor variable, and outcome variables of wellbeing and COVID-19 anxiety. Data were gathered and analysed cross-sectionally on day one (N = 189), and longitudinally over five days (N = 105), using multiple regressions. Overall, perceived pet play did not predict wellbeing nor COVID-19 anxiety. As such, the current study indicates human–pet play does not contribute to the ‘pet effect’ nor social buffering, thus raising questions for future research regarding the exact purpose of play within the human–pet relationship.

Elder mistreatment and psychological resilience: the moderating role of social support

ABSTRACT This study examines the possible consequence of elder mistreatment on resilience and whether social support moderates this posited association, using a rural sample of 432 community-dwelling older Chinese adults aged 60 to 79 years. Elder abuse included verbal abuse, physical abuse, or financial exploitation. Social support was measured by The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Resilience was represented by a seven-item scale. Hierarchical regression models indicated that mistreatment is significantly related to low levels of resilience when confounding factors are adjusted. A significant interaction term (abuse × social support) was also detected. Mistreated respondents who reported higher levels of social support were less likely to experience low resilience compared to those with lower levels of social support. Social support buffers against the undesirable effect of mistreatment on resilience, especially for those who were abused.

Contagion of depression: a double-edged sword

Depression is a significant mental health issue with extensive economic implications, and recent studies suggest it may be transmitted between individuals. However, the mechanisms of this contagion remain unclear, and the social buffering effect has been understudied. This research employs three rodent models, including stress crossover, cohabitation-induced, and non-contact induced depression contagion models, to explore these mechanisms. Here, we report that that naive mice cohabiting with depressed mice showed increased corticosterone levels and depressive behaviors, unlike those with stressed mice, who did not exhibit these changes and even mitigated desperation in stressed mice. Non-contact cohabitation did not produce significant behavioral differences, but exposure to bedding from depressed mice reduced sucrose preference in naive mice. This study introduces reliable models of depression contagion, suggesting it operates independently of stress transmission. The interplay between depression contagion and social buffering may vary in different contexts. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of depression contagion and potential strategies for preventing depressive disorders.

Negative ties, social support buffering, and loneliness: Findings from a cross-national survey

This study examines the independent and interactive effects of perceived social support (positive ties) and relational stress (negative ties) on loneliness in later life. To that end, we differentiate the sources of social support, tap multiple items to measure relational stress, and analyze a large cross-national dataset containing probability samples of older adults across 28 countries ( N = 12,449). Our analysis demonstrates that the relationship between perceived social support and loneliness is source specific. A key finding is that perceived social support particularly from family is negatively associated with loneliness. Older adults who name friends and ‘others’ (e.g., coworkers, neighbors, acquaintances) as the most important source of support exhibit higher levels of loneliness than those who choose kin members. By contrast, relational stress, regardless of its source, is positively associated with loneliness. Moreover, this positive relationship between relational stress and loneliness is stronger for those who select others as the primary source of social support, lending credence to the concept of reverse buffering. Taken together, our findings underscore the importance of the sources of social positivity and social negativity in examining the interrelationships between positive ties, negative ties, and loneliness in later life.

271 Does social buffering amongst familiar weaned beef calves mitigate castration stressors?

Abstract Co-mingling of beef feeder calves from multiple sources results in biological and behavioral stressors. This study is part of a project exploring social relationships between individual beef cattle and potential benefits of social buffering during stress events. Here, the specific objective was to explore whether feeder calves form preferential relationships which buffer them from surgical castration pain. Within the experiment, two treatment groups were established: Familiar calves were defined as calves who shared a source farm with two other calves in the pen, and Unfamiliar calves were defined as calves who did not share a source with any other pen-mates. It was hypothesized that Familiar calves would exhibit more lying, fewer pain-related behaviors, and fewer agonistic interactions following surgical castration than Unfamiliar pen-mates. Weaned beef bull calves [n = 102, body weight (BW) range ± SD = 112.95 to 370.10 ± 67.8 kg] from 23 source farms were randomly assigned to home pens, each comprised of three Familiar calves and three Unfamiliar calves. Cameras placed above the pens recorded video from which postural (standing and lying), social (agonistic and bunk displacements) and pain-related behaviors (wound checking and hind leg stamping) were quantified. Cattle were handled through a hydraulic squeeze chute once weekly over four consecutive weeks for data collection and standard processing procedures. On d 14 relative to arrival, calves were surgically castrated with multimodal pain mitigation. During all processing events, calves were marked with livestock paint for behavioral observations. Behavior was observed continuously for 15 min at five different time points (0 h, 1 h, 4 h, 24 h, 48 h) relative to when the last calf returned to the home pen after processing, and researchers were blind to treatment allocation. These time periods corresponded to expected periods when pain was absent and present based on duration of local anesthesia and systemic pain relief. Calf was the experimental unit. For the purpose of this abstract, data from the 48 h periods following d 7 and 14 were analyzed using the PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS; the model included treatment (Familiar, Unfamiliar) by week interaction. A P-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered significantly different. Regardless of treatment, preliminary analyses identified decreased lying (P < 0.02) and increased wound checking (P < 0.01) 48h following castration (d 14) when compared with the previous week (d 7). There were no observed differences for hindleg stamping (P = 0.2), agonistic behaviors (P > 0.06) or bunk displacement (P = 0.09). Based on preliminary analyses, we did not observe evidence of social buffering effects on castration stress during the immediate post-surgical period.

Sex, drugs, and zebrafish: Acute exposure to anxiety-modulating compounds in a modified novel tank dive test

This study investigated the effects of anxiogenic and anxiolytic drugs on zebrafish (Danio rerio) behaviour using a modified novel tank dive test with higher walls and a narrower depth. Zebrafish were administered chondroitin sulfate, beta-carboline, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), ethanol, and beta-caryophyllene, and their behaviours were evaluated for geotaxis, swimming velocity, and immobility. Both anxiogenic and anxiolytic compounds generally increased bottom-dwelling behaviour, suggesting that the tank's modified dimensions significantly influence zebrafish responses. EC50 values for ethanol showed a lower threshold for velocity reduction compared to zone preference. Chondroitin sulfate uniquely caused a sex-specific increase in male swimming velocity, whereas no other sex-differences were observed with any compound. Interestingly, the presence of drug-treated fish did not alter the behaviour of observer fish, suggesting limited social buffering effects. The findings underscore the complexity of zebrafish behavioural phenotypes and highlight the need for considering tank dimensions and multiple behavioural parameters to accurately assess the effects of anxiety-modulating drugs. This study demonstrates the utility of the modified novel tank dive test in providing nuanced insights into the behavioural effects of different pharmacological agents in zebrafish.

The transgenerational consequences of paternal social isolation and predation exposure in threespined sticklebacks.

Parents routinely encounter stress in the ecological environment that can affect offspring development (transgenerational plasticity: TGP); however, parents' interactions with conspecifics may alter how parents respond to ecological stressors. During social buffering, the presence of conspecifics can reduce the response to or increase the speed of recovery from a stressor. This may have cascading effects on offspring if conspecifics can mitigate parental responses to ecological stress in ways that blunt the transmission of stress-induced transgenerational effects. Here, we simultaneously manipulated both paternal social isolation and experience with predation risk prior to fertilisation in threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We generated offspring via in-vitro fertilisation to allow us to isolate paternal effects mediated via sperm alone (i.e. in the absence of paternal care). If social buffering mitigates TGP induced by paternal exposure to predation risk, then we expect the transgenerational effects of predation exposure to be weaker when a conspecific is present compared to when the father is isolated. Offspring of predator-exposed fathers showed reduced anxiety-like behaviour and tended to be captured faster by the predator. Fathers who were socially isolated also had offspring that were captured faster by a live predator, suggesting that paternal social isolation may have maladaptive effects on how offspring respond to ecological stressors. Despite additive effects of paternal social isolation and paternal predation risk, we found no evidence of an interaction between these paternal treatments, suggesting that the presence of a conspecific did not buffer fathers and/or offspring from the effects of predation risk. Our results suggest that socially induced stress is an important, yet underappreciated, mediator of TGP and can elicit transgenerational effects even in species that do not form permanent social groups. Future studies should therefore consider how the parental social environment can affect both within and trans-generational responses to ecological stressors.

"Why (Zebra)fish May Get Ulcers": Cognitive and Social Modulation of Stress in Fish.

In the bestseller book "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers", Robert Sapolsky argues that animals do not suffer from stress-related diseases like humans because for them, stress is episodic, while humans in contrast suffer from chronic psychological stress. In particular, the idea that fish cannot experience psychological stress is still prevalent, partly due to the lack of a homologous brain area to the neocortex. However, emerging evidence suggests that teleosts can undergo psychological stress, defined as a subjective and perceptual experience of the stressor, and in recent years, the underlying mechanisms started to be unveiled. The occurrence of cognitive appraisal in the assessment of stressors has been demonstrated in fish, indicating that the subjective evaluation of stimulus valence and salience, rather than absolute intrinsic characteristics of the stimulus itself, play a key role in the activation of the stress response. Moreover, individual biases (i.e., cognitive bias) in the cognitive appraisal of stimuli have also been described in fish, with some individuals consistently evaluating ambiguous stimuli as positive (aka optimists) whereas other individuals (aka pessimists) appraise them as negative. As a result, optimists and pessimists show consistent differences in stress reactivity and susceptibility/resilience to disease. Finally, social context has also been shown to modulate the response to aversive stimuli with the behavior of conspecifics either buffering or enhancing the response (i.e., social buffering vs. social contagion). Cognitive appraisal of stressors occurs in fish, implying that the stress response is modulated by a subjective and perceptual experience of the stressor. Moreover, interindividual consistent cognitive biases in the appraisal of stressors are also present in fish making some individuals more susceptible to stress-related diseases. Therefore, psychological stress has a health toll in fish, and psychologically stressed fish can potentially have ulcers.

Does Social Support Buffer the Effect of Negative Life Events on Mental Health Outcomes?

Does Social Support Buffer the Effect of Negative Life Events on Mental Health Outcomes?

Parent-Child Relationships: A Shield Against Maternal Depression in the Midst of Household Chaos.

Depression, a severe mental disorder, not only jeopardizes the health of mothers but also significantly negative impacts on families and their children. This study investigates the correlation between household chaos and maternal depression. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and used the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale, Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Parent-Child Relationship Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory to assess 1947 mothers of children in seven kindergartens in Shanghai, China. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between household chaos, marital conflict, and maternal depression. Marital conflict also showed a significantly positively correlated with maternal depression. Marital conflict mediates the relationship between household chaos and maternal depression. Parent-child relationships moderated the direct effect of household chaos on maternal depression. When parent-child relationships were low, household chaos had a greater predictive effect on maternal depression. Conversely, when parent-child relationships were high, the predictive effect of household chaos on maternal depression was reduced. This study reveals that parent-child relationships play a protective role in the impact of household chaos on maternal depression. This study significantly contributes to enriching the social support buffering model.

Social Support Buffers the Effect of Social Deprivation on Comorbidity Burden in Adults with Cancer.

Adults with cancer have higher rates of comorbidity compared to those without cancer, with excess burden in people from lower socioeconomic status (SES). Social deprivation, based on geographic indices, broadens the focus of SES to include the importance of "place" and its association with health. Further, social support is a modifiable resource found to have direct and indirect effects on health in adults with cancer, with less known about its impact on comorbidity. We prospectively examined associations between social deprivation and comorbidity burden and the potential buffering role of social support. Our longitudinal sample of 420 adults (Mage = 59.6, SD = 11.6; 75% Non-Hispanic White) diagnosed with cancer completed measures at baseline (~6 months post-diagnosis) and four subsequent 3-month intervals for 1 year. Adjusting for age, cancer type, and race/ethnicity, we found a statistically significant interaction between social support and the effect of social deprivation on comorbidity burden (β = -0.11, p = 0.012), such that greater social support buffered the negative effect of social deprivation on comorbidity burden. Implementing routine screening for social deprivation in cancer care settings can help identify patients at risk of excess comorbidity burden. Clinician recognition of these findings could trigger a referral to social support resources for individuals high on social deprivation.

The Effect of Anxiety and Depression on Academic Performance of the Students

The purpose of this study is to explore how social support is related to the overall well-being of college students. Literature suggests social support buffers a negative effect of distress on academic performance. A multiple linear regression was conducted to examine the association between anxiety, depression, social support, and academic performance. Some findings were not congruent with the literature. Although social support had a significant moderating effect, it did not necessarily buffer the negative influence of depression on academic performance. Surprisingly, among the group who reported having low social support, depression had a positive relationship with academic performance. After eliminating an insignificant moderating effect of social support on the relationship between anxiety and academic performance, the total effect of anxiety on academic performance was not significant. The implication of the findings is not to disregard mental health issues; rather, it is possible that these students are more difficult to reach due to less visible symptoms and/or succeeding academically.

Heart and shoal: Social cues and oxytocin receptors impact stress recovery in the zebrafish

In many species, social interactions decrease behavioral, hormonal, and neural responses to environmental stressors. While “social buffering” and its mechanisms have received considerable attention in mammals, we know less about the phenomenon in fish. The nonapeptide oxytocin regulates social behavior across vertebrates and plays an important role in social buffering in mammals. We investigated social buffering in the zebrafish by evaluating how the social environment and oxytocin receptors impact recovery from an acute stressor. Male and female fish were briefly exposed to alarm substance and recovered either in isolation or within view of a stimulus shoal. Alarm substance did not increase social approach, but social stimuli improved behavioral stress recovery. Oxytocin receptor antagonism decreased social approach during stress recovery and impaired stress recovery exclusively in individuals with access to visual social stimuli. Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that social stimuli buffer stress responses in fish and suggest that oxytocin receptors may play a role in socially-buffered stress recovery across taxa.

Social Connectedness and Identity Resilience Buffer Against Minority Stress and Enhance Life Satisfaction in Ethnic and Sexual Minorities in the UK

Social Connectedness and Identity Resilience Buffer Against Minority Stress and Enhance Life Satisfaction in Ethnic and Sexual Minorities in the UK

Naloxone increases conditioned fear responses during social buffering in male rats.

Social buffering is the phenomenon in which the presence of an affiliative conspecific mitigates stress responses. We previously demonstrated that social buffering completely ameliorates conditioned fear responses in rats. However, the neuromodulators involved in social buffering are poorly understood. Given that opioids, dopamine, oxytocin and vasopressin play an important role in affiliative behaviour, here, we assessed the effects of the most well-known antagonists, naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist), haloperidol (dopamine D2 receptor antagonist), atosiban (oxytocin receptor antagonist) and SR49059 (vasopressin V1a receptor antagonist), on social buffering. In Experiment 1, fear-conditioned male subjects were intraperitoneally administered one of the four antagonists 25 min prior to exposure to a conditioned stimulus with an unfamiliar non-conditioned rat. Naloxone, but not the other three antagonists, increased freezing and decreased walking and investigation as compared with saline administration. In Experiment 2, identical naloxone administration did not affect locomotor activity, anxiety-like behaviour or freezing in an open-field test. In Experiment 3, after confirming that the same naloxone administration again increased conditioned fear responses, as done in Experiment 1, we measured Fos expression in 16 brain regions. Compared with saline, naloxone increased Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and decreased Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens shell, anterior cingulate cortex and insular cortex and tended to decrease Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens core. Based on these results, we suggest that naloxone blocks social buffering of conditioned fear responses in male rats.

Social buffering of behavioural stress response in two fish species, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and koi carp (Cyprinus carpio)

AbstractThe presence of conspecifics plays a crucial role in mitigating stress responses in social teleost species and holds potential for enhancing welfare in captive fish. While studies on social buffering effects have typically focussed on single species, marked interspecific differences can exist. Here, we conducted an analysis of social buffering of stress response in two of the most extensively farmed fish, the Nile tilapia and the koi carp. Subjects were exposed to a behavioural stress response assay (open‐field test) in three conditions simulating increasing levels of social enrichment: isolation, pairs, or shoals of five fish. We obtained five stress indicators from the assay: thigmotaxis, freezing, activity, erratic movements and interindividual distance in conditions with more than one fish. In both species, erratic movements significantly decreased with increasing levels of social enrichment, suggesting a similar social buffering effect. However, other indicators revealed species differences. Koi carp, but not Nile tilapia, showed a socially‐mediated reduction in thigmotaxis, whereas Nile tilapia, but not Koi carp, showed a socially‐mediated reduction in freezing behaviour. Furthermore, social enrichment determined opposite effects on the activity of the two species: Nile tilapia were more active as group size increased, whereas the opposite trend was found in koi carp. Finally, Nile tilapia showed increased interindividual distance with increasing social group size, whereas no changes were observed for koi carp. Our study indicates that the buffering effects of social enrichment on the behavioural stress response do not completely overlap between different fish species, highlighting the importance of developing finely‐tuned species‐specific enrichments and welfare indicators.

The effects of parental presence on amygdala and mPFC activation during fear conditioning: An exploratory study.

Learning safe versus dangerous cues is crucial for survival. During development, parents can influence fear learning by buffering their children's stress response and increasing exploration of potentially aversive stimuli. Rodent findings suggest that these behavioral effects are mediated through parental presence modulation of the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Here, we investigated whether similar parental modulation of amygdala and mPFC during fear learning occurs in humans. Using a within-subjects design, behavioral (final N=48, 6-17 years, mean=11.61, SD=2.84, 60% females/40% males) and neuroimaging data (final N=39, 6-17 years, mean=12.03, SD=2.98, 59% females/41% males) were acquired during a classical fear conditioning task, which included a CS+ followed by an aversive noise (US; 75% reinforcement rate) and a CS-. Conditioning occurred once in physical contact with the participant's parent and once alone (order counterbalanced). Region of interest analyses examined the unconditioned stress response by BOLD activation to the US (vs. implicit baseline) and learning by activation to the CS+ (vs. CS-). Results showed that during US presentation, parental presence reduced the centromedial amygdala activity, suggesting buffering of the unconditioned stress response. In response to learned stimuli, parental presence reduced mPFC activity to the CS+ (relative to the CS-), although this result did not survive multiple comparisons' correction. These preliminary findings indicate that parents modulate amygdala and mPFC activity during exposure to unconditioned and conditioned fear stimuli, potentially providing insight into the neural mechanisms by which parents act as a social buffer during fear learning. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This study used a within-participant experimental design to investigate how parental presence (vs. absence) affects youth's neural responses in a classical fear conditioning task. Parental presence reduced the youth's centromedial amygdala activation to the unconditioned stimulus (US), suggesting parental buffering of the neural unconditioned response (UR). Parental presence reduced the youth's mPFC activation to a conditioned threat cue (CS+) compared to a safety cue (CS-), suggesting possible parental modulation of fear learning.

Social buffering in rats reduces fear by oxytocin triggering sustained changes in central amygdala neuronal activity

The presence of a companion can reduce fear, but the neural mechanisms underlying this social buffering of fear are incompletely known. We studied social buffering of fear in male and female, and its encoding in the amygdala of male, auditory fear-conditioned rats. Pharmacological, opto,- and/or chemogenetic interventions showed that oxytocin signaling from hypothalamus-to-central amygdala projections underlied fear reduction acutely with a companion and social buffering retention 24 h later without a companion. Single-unit recordings with optetrodes in the central amygdala revealed fear-encoding neurons (showing increased conditioned stimulus-responses after fear conditioning) inhibited by social buffering and blue light-stimulated oxytocinergic hypothalamic projections. Other central amygdala neurons showed baseline activity enhanced by blue light and companion exposure, with increased conditioned stimulus responses that persisted without the companion. Social buffering of fear thus switches the conditioned stimulus from encoding “fear” to “safety” by oxytocin-mediated recruitment of a distinct group of central amygdala “buffer neurons”.

The 5-HT2A, 5-HT5A, and 5-HT6 serotonergic receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex behave differently in extinction learning: Does social support play a role?

Studies on the social modulation of fear have revealed that in social species, individuals in a distressed state show better recovery from aversive experiences when accompanied - referred to as social buffering. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown, hindering the understanding of such an approach. Our previous data showed that the presence of a conspecific during the extinction task inhibited the retrieval of fear memory without affecting the extinction memory in the retention test. Here, we investigate the role of serotonergic receptors (5-HTRs), specifically 5-HT2A, 5-HT5A, and 5-HT6 in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), In the retention of extinction after the extinction task, in the absence or presence of social support. Extinction training was conducted on 60-day-old male Wistar rats either alone or with a conspecific (a familiar cagemate, non-fearful). The antagonists for these receptors were administered directly into the mPFC immediately after the extinction training. The results indicate that blocking 5-HT5A (SB-699551–10 μg/side) and 5-HT6 (SB-271046A - 10 μg/side) receptors in the mPFC impairs the consolidation of CFC in the social support group. Interestingly, blocking 5-HT2A receptors (R65777 - 4 μg/side) in the mPFC led to impaired CFC specifically in the group undergoing extinction training alone. These findings contribute to a better understanding of brain mechanisms and neuromodulation associated with social support during an extinction protocol. They are consistent with previously published research, suggesting that the extinction of contextual fear conditioning with social support involves distinct neuromodulatory processes compared to when extinction training is conducted alone.

Human social buffer in goats and dogs

The primary goal of this study was to explore the social buffering effect that humans offer to goats and dogs with limited exposure to human socialization, particularly in situations involving interactions with unfamiliar humans. A total of 13 dogs and 14 goats were selected for the study, all of which had limited prior socialization with humans. Each animal was placed in a testing room with unfamiliar humans for 15 min. Three experimenters aimed to establish a comfortable environment, encouraging social interaction by offering food to the animals and assessing the animals’ willingness to accept food and their response to being approached and petted. If both conditions were satisfied, the animals were classified as “social”. If one or none of the conditions were met, the animals were classified as “not social”. Cortisol levels were measured by collecting blood samples before and after the test. Non-parametric tests together with a GzLM showed that the effect of human social buffering in goats was different in comparison to dogs: goats exhibited higher cortisol levels after the test, while dogs did not show a significant change. Further analysis demonstrated that “social” goats had a lower likelihood of experiencing significant changes in cortisol levels than dogs. Thus, once human interactions are accepted, both species could benefit from social buffering. In summary, this study enhances our understanding of how dogs and goats respond to social interactions with humans in the social buffering effect.