Attachment to pets and interpersonal relationships: Can a four-legged friend replace a two-legged one?

Smolkovic, Iris; Fajfar, Mateja; Mlinaric, Vesna

doi:10.5334/jeps.ao

Cited by 73 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings are in line with previous research showing that stronger human-animal relationships are associated with increased reports of psychopathological symptoms [63][64][65][66]. However, they are inconsistent with findings that suggest either no association between living with a companion animal and well-being [67,68] or findings linking strong human-animal bonds with positive mental health outcomes [36]. One hypothesis -brought up by Müllersdorf et al [69] -that may explain poorer mental health reported by pet owners strongly attached to their pet is that individuals who are predisposed to experience mental health problems are more likely to obtain a pet and bond to the pet strongly as some kind of self-help strategy.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…However, these studies have yielded inconsistent results. While some found a substantial relationship between strong attachment to pets and lower degree of loneliness as well as depression [34,35], others did not find any association or even positive relationships between attachment to pets and loneliness as well as depression [36]. These inconsistent findings indicate that a stronger attachment to pets does not necessarily result in lower levels of psychopathological symptoms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Lass‐Hennemann

Michael

Sopp

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals working in high-risk occupations (e.g., emergency staff) are exposed to high levels of occupational stress including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health problems among these occupations. Pet ownership has been associated with better mental health. However, to date a study on the association between pet ownership and indicators of mental health in these occupations is missing. The present cross-sectional survey (N = 580) investigated pet ownership, attachment to pets, health-benefitting factors (i.e., sense of coherence, trait-resilience, locus of control) and psychopathological symptoms (i.e., general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff, police officers, and firefighters. Dog owners and non-dog owners showed comparable levels of psychopathological distress and health-benefitting factors. Compared to cat owners, dog owners demonstrated stronger emotional attachment to their pet. Moreover, a stronger attachment was also linked to higher levels of psychopathological symptoms and lower levels of health-benefitting factors. However, the relationship between attachment to pets and health-benefitting factors could be explained by their overlap with psychopathological symptom levels. Overall, our findings are not in line with the notion that pet ownership generally has a health-benefitting effect. Future studies need to investigate circumstances that modulate positive effects of pet ownership.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Lass‐Hennemann

Michael

Sopp

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, in our study the length of tortoise ownership is generally less than three years. This is very short when considering the long lifespan of tortoise species, and much shorter than for other pets like dogs or cats in Europe [61], but is in line with that of other wild pets, high percentages of which end up being abandoned or in animal care centers owing to their overly demanding requirements [62]. Moreover, there is almost a complete absence of tortoise veterinary care in Rabat and its surroundings, which contrasts with the frequent care of other domestic pets like cats, dogs or rabbits in, for example, North America [63].…”

Section: Animal Preference Welfare and Pet Knowledgementioning

confidence: 99%

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents’ Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge

Segura

Delibes‐Mateos

Acevedo

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The trading and collection of wild animals as pets may be cause for concern regarding animal welfare and species conservation. These concerns can be exemplified by Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), a long-living species whose use as pets is long established. The human dimension plays a major role in the wildlife for the pet collection, and is particularly important in countries like Morocco, where this might pose a threat to the conservation of the species involved. This study, which is based on a questionnaire survey (n = 480 participants), documents the fact that many people in Morocco keep tortoises as pets: 55% of the participants in the survey and over two tortoises/person. Importantly, most captive tortoises, particularly juveniles, had been collected directly from wild populations by their owners (42%, n = 264). In general, the tortoise owners had limited knowledge of their tortoises’ habits and requirements, although rural people were more likely to acknowledge that the tortoise is a wild and threatened species. Our study reveals that non-commercial collection is a common activity in Morocco that may threaten wild tortoise populations and hence species conservation, and it could have consequences regarding the welfare of the animals. We were also able to identify the profile of people towards whom education campaigns should be directed in order to reduce the number of tortoises collected from wild populations. Additional field research should also be conducted to quantify the impact of pet collection on wild tortoise populations.

show abstract

“…O fato de ter sido observada diferença significativa na AE apenas nos voluntários que convivem com cães pode estar relacionado ao fato de que esta espécie, geralmente, apresenta alto nível de apego com o tutor, estando esta variável diretamente proporcional à qualidade de vida do tutor (WHITE et al, 2017). Adicionalmente, foi observado em estudo prévio (SMOLKOVIC et al, 2012) que o apego do tutor com cão é maior que com outras espécies. Além disso, no presente estudo houve uma maior incidência de indivíduos que relataram conviver com cães, em comparação com outras espécies.…”

Section: Períodounclassified

“…É importante salientar que a raça foi definida de acordo com a consideração dos próprios participantes, não tendo sido confirmada oficialmente esta classificação através de pedigree no presente estudo. Segundo Smolkovic et al (2012), é possível que o apego do tutor com o animal seja maior quando o pet possui pedigree, devido a fatores como investimento para compra e escolha da raça. Entretanto, os resultados do presente estudo com relação ao pedigree do animal demonstram que, independente da raça, o convívio com pet promove melhorias na AE dos tutores.…”

Section: Períodounclassified

Universitários Que Convivem Com Animais De Estimação Apresentam Menores Níveis De Ansiedade

Andrade¹,

Araújo²,

Andrade³

et al. 2018

Enci Bio

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMO Estudantes universitários apresentam alta propensão em desenvolver ansiedade. Considera-se que convívio com animais de estimação pode promover melhorias tanto físicas quanto psicológicas. Desta forma, objetivou-se investigar os efeitos do convívio com animal de estimação sobre a ansiedade em universitários. Participaram do estudo 219 estudantes matriculados no curso de Bacharelado em Ciências Agrárias. Foi aplicado o Inventário de Ansiedade Traço-Estado (IDATE) para avaliação da ansiedade. Adicionalmente, algumas questões referentes à posse de animal de estimação (quantidade, espécie e raça) foram anexadas ao IDATE. Os dados foram submetidos à estatística descritiva e à análise de variância (ANOVA) e as médias comparadas pelo teste de t de student (p < 0,05). A maioria dos participantes foi classificada com ansiedade-estado moderada. A ansiedade foi menor nos voluntários que relataram conviver com animal de estimação, em relação àqueles que não convivem com pet. Com relação à espécie, observou-se que a ansiedade foi menor nos universitários que convivem com cães, quando comparados àqueles que não possuem animal. Os níveis de ansiedade foram menores naqueles que convivem com um ou dois animais, em relação aos que não convivem. A ansiedade nos universitários que convivem com apenas um animal foi menor em relação àqueles que convivem com três ou mais animais. Foram observados menores escores de ansiedade nos voluntários que convivem com animais sem raça definida, de raça, ou até mesmo ambos os casos, quando comparados àqueles que não convivem com pet. Conclui-se que o convívio com animal de estimação está relacionado a menores níveis de ansiedade. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Ansiedade.Estudantes Universitários. Pet.

show abstract

Attachment to pets and interpersonal relationships: Can a four-legged friend replace a two-legged one?

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 73 publications

References 27 publications

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents’ Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge

Universitários Que Convivem Com Animais De Estimação Apresentam Menores Níveis De Ansiedade

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About