Association between Pet Ownership and Mental Health and Well-Being of Canadians Assessed in a Cross-Sectional Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Denis-Robichaud, J.; Aenishaenslin, Cécile; Richard, Lucie; Desmarchelier, Marion; Carabin, Hélène

doi:10.3390/ijerph19042215

Cited by 13 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…The cat group also showed higher levels of social and family emotional loneliness than the other two groups during the reopening and recovery phases of the pandemic. These findings are consistent with the results of some previous studies [ 12 , 54 – 56 ] but not with others [ 14 , 57 , 58 ]. The conflicting findings across studies may be due to differences in study methodology (e.g., quantitative vs. qualitative and/or approaches to confounder adjustment between quantitative studies) and the differences in the scales used to quantify mental health and well-being [ 59 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey

2023

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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us in numerous ways and may consequently impact our relationships with pet dogs and cats. We conducted a longitudinal survey to examine the temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during four phases of the pandemic: 1) pre-pandemic (February 2020), 2) lockdown (April to June 2020), 3) reopening (September to December 2020), and 4) recovery (January 2021 to December 2021). We also investigated the effect of pet ownership on stress and loneliness, by considering a set of a priori causal assumptions. In addition, we hypothesized that the differences in the levels of stress and loneliness between dog and cat ownerships were mediated by the owner-pet relationship. A total of 4,237 participants (657 non-pet owners, 1,761 dog owners, and 1,819 cat owners) completed between one and six surveys. Overall, the closeness in the relationship between owners and their pets increased with time during the study period. We also observed that dog owners consistently showed larger decreases in the levels of stress and loneliness than cat and non-pet owners. However, after adjusting for confounders, the findings did not support a mitigating effect of pet ownership. Pet ownership did not alleviate stress, social loneliness resulting from a lack of friendships or workplace relationships, or emotional loneliness due to deficiencies in family relationships. Pet owners, however, reported a lower degree of emotional loneliness caused by deficits in romantic relationships than non-pet owners. Our results also indicated that the differences in stress and loneliness levels between dog and cat ownerships were partially explained by the owner-pet relationship, and once this was accounted for, the differences between them reduced. In summary, this study highlights the dynamic effects of COVID-19 on owner-pet relationship and mental health. It also shows the complexity of the association between pet ownership and mental health, partially mediated by owner-pet relationships.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey

2023

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“…Of the 21 included studies ( Table 1 ), four were conducted in the United States ( 32 , 37 , 48 , 49 ), three in the United Kingdom ( 34 , 40 , 50 ), two in Canada ( 35 , 42 ), Australia ( 38 , 39 ), and across multiple countries ( 47 , 53 ). One study was conducted in each of the following countries: Brazil ( 41 ), New Zealand ( 43 ), Italy ( 44 ), Malaysia ( 45 ), Portugal ( 46 ), Japan ( 36 ), Singapore ( 51 ), and China ( 52 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The earliest study was conducted starting on March 15th, 2020 ( 43 ) and the latest ended in December of 2021 ( 37 ). A majority of the studies (19, 90.5%) were conducted during 2020 ( 32 , 36 – 53 ); 12 of the 21 studies (57.1%) collected data over approximately 4–6 weeks ( 32 , 34 , 35 , 41 , 43 – 47 , 49 , 50 , 52 ). Fourteen studies specified the state of the pandemic and lockdowns at the time of the study such as: strict lockdown measures, states of emergency, or “waves” of COVID-19 cases, to mark their times of data collection ( 32 , 34 , 38 – 41 , 43 – 47 , 50 – 52 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eleven of the included studies had samples greater than 1,000 participants ( 35 , 37 – 39 , 41 , 42 , 47 – 50 , 53 ). All studies included general populations of at least age 18 and over, one included a general population aged 19 and over ( 52 ), and one included a population of university students aged 18–23 years ( 36 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining evidence for a relationship between human-animal interactions and common mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review

Barr,

Guggenbickler,

Hoch

et al. 2024

Front. Health Serv.

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IntroductionCOVID-19 lockdowns, shelter in place, closures of transportation and mental health services, and dearth of mental health providers created new barriers to obtaining support for mental health needs at a time of increased rates of anxiety and depression. During the pandemic, a record number of households owned and adopted pets, opening a potential avenue to investigate the relationship between pets and mental health. This systematic literature review examined the question: What is the evidence for a relationship between human-animal interaction and/or animal ownership and common mental disorders among adults who interacted with pets compared to adults who did not during the COVID-19 pandemic?MethodsTo address this question, four databases were searched: Medline, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and SCOPUS for peer-reviewed literature published between 2020 and July 2023. Of the 1,746 articles identified by the searches, 21 studies were included in this review.ResultsResults suggest that there exists a relationship between animal ownership and strong pet attachment and pet interaction, though the directionality of the relationship was not investigated by the included studies. There was an association between having a stronger relationship with a pet and lower feelings of depression and other mental health symptoms. There was also evidence of an association between anxiety and higher levels of animal attachment.ConclusionUnderstanding the association between human-animal interaction and common mental disorders may be helpful to clinicians assessing the mental health of clients. Clinicians may glean additional insight about stressors, risk factors, social supports, and lifestyle of clients based on the client's status as a pet owner. Future research could further explore the direction of the causal relationship of human-animal interaction and/or animal ownership on common mental disorders; this could further inform how the HAI relationship can be used to support clients with mental health struggles.

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“…This phenomenon is known as the ‘pet effect’ [ 7 ]. While there is debate as to the veracity of the positive effect of companion animals due to contrasting results [ 8 ], studies that consider attachment and social support theories suggest that non-human animals fulfil human needs for emotional support [ 9 ], even acting as substitutes for reduced human support networks [ 10 ]. However, the role of animal empathy towards humans in generating this social support has not been explicitly investigated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It Almost Makes Her Human”: How Female Animal Guardians Construct Experiences of Cat and Dog Empathy

Hiestand

McComb

Banerjee

2022

Animals

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Understanding how humans perceive and construct experiences of non-human animal empathy (hereafter, ‘animal/s’) can provide important information to aid our understanding of how companion animals contribute to social support. This study investigates the phenomenology of animal empathy by examining how humans construct sense-making narratives of these experiences, with the hypothesis that anthropomorphic attributions would play a key role in these constructions. Comprehensive, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants, using established interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology to facilitate deep examination of how they interpreted and reacted emotionally. Participants were consistent in reporting changes to their companion animals’ normal behaviour as the key to the identification of animal empathy experiences, yet they were highly paradoxical in their constructions of perceived internal drivers within their dogs and cats. Explanations were highly dichotomous, from highly anthropomorphic to highly anthropocentric, and these extremes were combined both within individual participant narratives and within some thematic constructs. This research demonstrates that experiences of companion animal empathy can be powerful and meaningful for humans, but the inconsistent mixture of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric reasoning illustrates the confused nature of human understanding of animals’ internal states. Insight into how humans construct animal empathy has implications for the moral status of these animals and an application for companion animals used explicitly for social support, such as in animal-assisted therapy and emotional support animals.

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Association between Pet Ownership and Mental Health and Well-Being of Canadians Assessed in a Cross-Sectional Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 13 publications

References 39 publications

Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey

Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey

Examining evidence for a relationship between human-animal interactions and common mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review

“It Almost Makes Her Human”: How Female Animal Guardians Construct Experiences of Cat and Dog Empathy

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