Robotic cats and dogs that purr, bark, and respond to touch may help bolster positive feelings of older adults who live at home, a study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry has found.Why It’s Relevant
Prior research suggests that robot pet companions can reduce loneliness and improve mood of older adults in residential care settings, but their benefits are less clear in home settings and among people who don’t have dementia.
By the Numbers
- The researchers enrolled 50 pairs of older people (ages 60+, 24 with dementia at baseline) and their caregivers in a four-week trial. Half of the older people received their choice of robotic cat, dog, kitten, or puppy; the other half received a robotic pet at study conclusion.
- Caregivers reported changes in positive and negative emotions in the study participants using two adaptations of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System.
- After four weeks, positive emotion scores increased from 40.7 to 45.9 in adults who received the pets and declined from 43.7 to 41.6 in the control group. Negative emotions in both groups declined slightly, with no difference between groups.
What Else Stood Out
Even when the older people didn’t engage with their robotic pets, simply having them promoted social engagement with others. They would show the pets to others, talk about the pets, and ask others to interact with the pets to see what they could do.
“The robot pets can be a topic of conversation and in this way increase social interaction, which in turn may improve mood,” the researchers wrote. “Thus, the pets should be considered an environmental stimulus as much as an interaction partner.”
The Other Side
The sample size was small, and the researchers interviewed only the caregivers, not the older adults themselves.
What’s Next
“Rather than simply compare pet exposure to a null control condition, as implemented in this study, it may be valuable to compare the effect of the robot pet to a simple stuffed animal,” the researchers wrote. “This would isolate the effect of the robot pet’s greater potential as a partner for engagement.”
Related Information
Source
Steven M Albert, et al. Effect of a robot pet companion on the mood of older adults receiving family caregiver support: pilot RCT. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. Published December 12, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2025.12.007
