"Watching a 15-Minute Dog Video"… Office Workers' Blood Pressure and Stress Drop Significantly

Joint Research Team from Seoul National University Bundang Hospital and Jeonbuk National University Analyzes 66 Office Workers
Significant Improvements in Anxiety, Tension, Depression, Anger, and Fatigue

Research has shown that structurally designed videos of puppies, intended to induce emotional responses in humans, can help manage cardiovascular and mental health in office workers exposed to chronic stress. Notably, those with higher blood pressure experienced greater reductions, confirming the potential for such videos to serve as a non-pharmacological management tool in everyday life.

Video of puppies produced by Happy Dog TV used for research. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

The joint research team led by Younghwan Song, Professor of Pediatrics at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, and Cheol Park, Professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeonbuk National University, announced on the 31st that when 66 Korean office workers watched a 15-minute puppy video produced by the team, their blood pressure and pulse stabilized, and indicators of anxiety and mood disorders showed significant improvement.

The research team focused on the characteristics of puppies that stimulate human affection and protective instincts. The so-called 'baby schema,' which includes large eyes, a round face, and a small nose and mouth, evokes images of young animals and is known to elicit emotional responses in humans. The researchers analyzed features such as puppy faces, expressions, and movements that provoke emotional reactions, then incorporated these elements into the composition, layout, and filming style of the videos. Camera angles and scenes were constructed to give viewers the feeling of making direct eye contact with the puppies.

The video used in the study was 15 minutes in total and consisted of five 3-minute clips. These included scenes of puppies playing in water, running around a yard, riding toy cars, a mother dog caring for her young, and a mother and puppy making eye contact.

When comparing office workers’ blood pressure (mmHg) and pulse rates before and after watching the videos, the "high blood pressure group"—those whose pre-viewing systolic pressure was 120 or above, or diastolic pressure was 80 or above—showed especially prominent positive changes. Their average systolic blood pressure dropped from 125.23 to 118.58, a decrease of 6.65, and their average diastolic pressure fell from 88.28 to 83.38, a reduction of 4.93. Their pulse rate also decreased by 4.12 beats per minute.

The normal blood pressure group also experienced a decrease in systolic pressure (an average of 3.16) and in pulse rate (a decrease of 2.76 beats per minute), but there were no significant changes in diastolic pressure for this group.

Stress response also improved. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S), used to measure anxiety, decreased by an average of 9.43 points in the high blood pressure group and by 6.64 points in the normal group. The Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) score, which reflects overall negative mood—such as tension, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion—was reduced by 11.77 and 7.92 points, respectively.

According to the Korean Society of Hypertension, 3 out of every 10 adults in Korea have hypertension. Data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics also shows that over half of all office workers experience stress to a degree that affects daily life.

The research team noted that since both hypertension and chronic stress are risk factors for cardio-cerebrovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke, the significance of this study lies in providing an easily accessible, non-pharmacological management method for everyday use.

Younghwan Song, Professor of Pediatrics at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. Seoul National University Bundang Hospital

Professor Younghwan Song stated, "Blood pressure is not a marker that can be fully managed with medication alone; it is continually influenced by stress and living environment. If content-based interventions that are easily applied outside the clinical setting are combined with existing therapies, they could become a new supplementary tool to help patients manage everyday stress and control blood pressure."

Kwak Sanggi, CEO of Happy Dog TV, participated as the first author and was involved in planning and producing the research videos. The findings were published in the international journal Frontiers in Public Health.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.