Exploring the Psychological and Physiological Impact of Human-Animal Bonding on Companion Animals
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2026 | Viewed by 26
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In some animal species—those we identify as “companion” animals—the affective bond with humans is lifelong and a fundamental determinant of the development and functioning of psychological, affective and physiological processes. Nonetheless, the mechanisms regulating this unique affective relationship remain unevenly characterized across species, life stages, and contexts. We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue which further explores the impact of the human–animal bond on companion animal cognition, personality traits, emotion regulation, stress responses, health, quality of life, and overall welfare.
This Special Issue aims to assemble hypothesis-driven and exploratory studies using a multimodal research approach that integrates indicators across behavioral, endocrine, neurobiological and immunological domains, and that leverages robust and reproducible designs. No a priori restriction on species will be applied. Accordingly, studies may also focus on non-conventional species, or even on animals commonly classified as farm animals, provided they are kept for companionship rather than for productive purposes.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Quality of attachment and stress physiology;
- Impact of the human–animal bond on animal cognitive development;
- Training methods and psychophysical welfare;
- Parenting styles and emotion regulation.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Giacomo Riggio
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- human-animal relationship
- attachment bond
- stress
- emotion regulation
- dogs
- cats
- behavioral problems
- behavior
- emotional support
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