Cat owners’ disenfranchised guilt and its predictive value on owners’ depression and anxiety

Abstract

Numerous studies have found pets to have a beneficial effect on people’s psychological well-being, yet a growing body of research suggests that the positive impact of pet ownership is more complex than once thought and does not always lead to improved owner physical and mental health. One potential drawback to pet ownership is pet-related guilt. Research pertaining to work-family conflict and parental guilt has traditionally focused on human family members, yet the majority of pet owners consider their pets to be family members. Similar to parental guilt, dog-related guilt has been found to be associated with feelings of anxiety, depression, and reduced psychological health. The current study was designed to expand on dog-related guilt research by assessing cat owners. An online, anonymous, cross-sectional survey was distributed through Prolific and resulted in 604 responses for analysis. Multiple linear regression was used to predict owner depression. Gender, age, social compensatory techniques, and two guilt factors (Attention and Veterinary-related) significantly predicted depression scores. Participants’ anxiety scores, assessed with multiple linear regression, were predicted by gender, age, social compensatory techniques, and three guilt factors (Attention, Veterinary-related, and Lifestyle). Our results suggest that cat-related guilt, analogous to parental guilt, is a significant predictor of anxiety and depression. It is imperative that society recognize cat owners’ guilt, often disenfranchised; unrecognized; and unacknowledged, and help support owners’ efforts to mitigate this guilt in healthy ways.