Is Dog Ownership Associated with Mental Health? A Population Study of 68,362 Adults Living in England

Liu, Shengxin; Powell, Lauren; Chia, Debbie; Russ, Tom C.; McGreevy, Paul; Bauman, Adrian; Edwards, Kate M.; Stamatakis, Emmanuel

doi:10.1080/08927936.2019.1673033

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This belief in the positive aspects of the human-animal bond is strengthened by marketing tools used by the pet industry [27]. While there certainly is evidence that supports the benefits of the human-animal bond to people's mental health [28,29], there is also clear and consistent evidence that the relationship is complex and sometimes negative [30,31]. The question of whether pets should be prescribed by health professionals is an especially important one.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Scoresby

Strand

et al. 2021

Veterinary Sciences

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Pet ownership is the most common form of human–animal interaction, and anecdotally, pet ownership can lead to improved physical and mental health for owners. However, scant research is available validating these claims. This study aimed to review the recent peer reviewed literature to better describe the body of knowledge surrounding the relationship between pet ownership and mental health. A literature search was conducted in May 2020 using two databases to identify articles that met inclusion/exclusion criteria. After title review, abstract review, and then full article review, 54 articles were included in the final analysis. Of the 54 studies, 18 were conducted in the general population, 15 were conducted in an older adult population, eight were conducted in children and adolescents, nine focused on people with chronic disease, and four examined a specific unique population. Forty-one of the studies were cross-sectional, 11 were prospective longitudinal cohorts, and two were other study designs. For each of the articles, the impact of pet ownership on the mental health of owners was divided into four categories: positive impact (n = 17), mixed impact (n = 19), no impact (n = 13), and negative impact (n = 5). Among the reviewed articles, there was much variation in population studied and study design, and these differences make direct comparison challenging. However, when focusing on the impact of pet ownership on mental health, the results were variable and not wholly supportive of the benefit of pets on mental health. Future research should use more consistent methods across broader populations and the development of a pet-ownership survey module for use in broad, population surveys would afford a better description of the true relationship of pet ownership and mental health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Scoresby

Strand

et al. 2021

Veterinary Sciences

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“…Factors such as cultural/ethnic identity, gender identity, marital and family status, socioeconomic status, and housing type all contribute to the family system, but are not consistently controlled for in studies on pet ownership (Kazdin, 2015;Purewal et al, 2017;Rodriguez, Herzog, & Gee, 2021). In fact, several studies have found that health effects associated with pet ownership were attenuated or changed when controlling for confounding variables (Goh et al, 2020;Jacobson & Chang, 2018;Marsa-Sambola et al, 2016;Miles, Parast, Babey, Griffin, & Saunders, 2017) or assessing interactions between pet ownership and demographic variables (Liu et al, 2019;Stanley et al, 2014). To inform evidence-based demographic covariates for pet ownership studies, several studies in the United Kingdom have specifically assessed the sociodemographics of pet ownership (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and contextual factors as moderators of the relationship between pet ownership and health

Mueller

King

Callina³

et al. 2021

Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine

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Objective: Companion animals are an important feature of the family system, and human-animal interaction is increasingly being recognized as an important social determinant of health. However, there is a need for more nuanced assessment of not only who owns pets, but how pet ownership is related to various health outcomes, and which sociodemographic and contextual factors moderate these associations.Design: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data collected from an online, probability-based panel to generate a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States (n = 1267). Data were analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression models.Results: Results suggested that pet owners are systematically different from non-pet owners on a number of key demographic and contextual characteristics, and these differences vary somewhat when looking at dog owners and cat owners. When controlling for individual and family-level covariates, pet ownership was not associated with overall health status or Body Mass Index, but dog ownership was associated with higher levels of physical activity. Pet ownership was associated with higher odds of having an anxiety disorder with gender moderating this relationship, but this association was not present for dog or cat owners, suggesting this relationship is limited to other types of pets. Higher odds of depression were associated with pet ownership (for both dog and cat owners), with employment status significantly moderating the relationship between dog ownership status and depression.Conclusions: These findings suggest that pet ownership is a complex and context specific phenomenon. Future research should carefully consider and control for sociodemographic predictors and use measurement and analysis approaches sensitive to the variations in human-animal relationships to fully understand how pets contribute to individual and family health and well-being.

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“…However, findings have been inconsistent in the literature, and some research has indicated no benefits of pet ownership on psychological wellbeing, 6 while other research has identified increased psychological distress of pet ownership, associated with specific environmental factors (e.g. being unmarried 7 ). To explore the mental health effects of pet ownership during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, we examined data collected through the large-scale COvid-19 and you: mentaL heaLth in AusTralia now survEy (COLLATE) project.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pet ownership and mental health during COVID‐19 lockdown

et al. 2021

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Owning a pet has often been associated with improved mental health among owners, including enhanced quality of life, and decreased levels of depression and loneliness. The aim of this study was to identify whether owning a cat and/or dog was associated with better psychological wellbeing during a strict lockdown period in Victoria, Australia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analysed from a large-scale mental health study: the COvid-19 and you: mentaL heaLth in AusTralia now survEy (COL-LATE). The impact of pet ownership on levels of resilience, loneliness and quality of life were examined in a sample of 138 pet owners and 125 non-pet owners. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that pet ownership was significantly associated with poorer quality of life, but not significantly associated with resilience or loneliness, after accounting for situational factors (e. g. job loss) and mood states. Contrary to expectations, the findings suggest that during a specific situation such as a pandemic, pets may contribute to increased burden among owners and contribute to poorer quality of life.

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Is Dog Ownership Associated with Mental Health? A Population Study of 68,362 Adults Living in England

Cited by 28 publications

References 34 publications

Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Demographic and contextual factors as moderators of the relationship between pet ownership and health

Pet ownership and mental health during COVID‐19 lockdown

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