Social support is critical for psychological and physical well-being, reflecting the centrality of belong-ingness in our lives. Human interactions often provide people with considerable social support, but can pets also fulfill one's social needs? Although there is correlational evidence that pets may help individuals facing significant life stressors, little is known about the well-being benefits of pets for everyday people. Study 1 found in a community sample that pet owners fared better on several well-being (e.g., greater self-esteem, more exercise) and individual-difference (e.g., greater conscientiousness, less fearful attachment) measures. Study 2 assessed a different community sample and found that owners enjoyed better well-being when their pets fulfilled social needs better, and the support that pets provided complemented rather than competed with human sources. Finally, Study 3 brought pet owners into the laboratory and experimentally demonstrated the ability of pets to stave off negativity caused by social rejection. In summary, pets can serve as important sources of social support, providing many positive psychological and physical benefits for their owners.

Social support is critical for psychological and physical well-being, reflecting the centrality of belongingness in our lives. Human interactions often provide people with considerable social support, but can pets also fulfill one's social needs? Although there is correlational evidence that pets may help individuals facing significant life stressors, little is known about the well-being benefits of pets for everyday people. Study 1 found in a community sample that pet owners fared better on several well-being (e.g., greater self-esteem, more exercise) and individual-difference (e.g., greater conscientiousness, less fearful attachment) measures. Study 2 assessed a different community sample and found that owners enjoyed better well-being when their pets fulfilled social needs better, and the support that pets provided complemented rather than competed with human sources. Finally, Study 3 brought pet owners into the laboratory and experimentally demonstrated the ability of pets to stave off negativity caused by social rejection. In summary, pets can serve as important sources of social support, providing many positive psychological and physical benefits for their owners.

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Research suggests that cognitive processing therapy (CPT) may be a particularly well-suited intervention for trauma survivors who endorse self-blame; however, no study has examined the impact of self-blame on response to CPT. Accordingly, the current study compared response to CPT between two groups of veterans seeking residential treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In one group, participants endorsed low self-blame at pretreatment (n = 133) and in the other group, participants endorsed high self-blame (n = 133). Results from multilevel modeling analysis suggest that both groups experienced significant reductions in PTSD symptoms as measured by the PTSD Checklist, B = -1.58, SE = 0.11; 95% CI [-1.78, -1.37]; t(1654) = -14.97, p < .001. After controlling for pretreatment symptom severity and additional covariates, there was no difference in treatment response between the low- and high-self-blame groups, Time × Self-blame interaction: B = 0.18, SE = 0.12; 95% CI = [-0.06, 0.42]; t(1646) = 1.49, p = .138. This suggests that CPT is an effective treatment for individuals exposed to trauma, regardless of level of self-blame.

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