Companion Animals’ Roles for AIDS Survivors, Mostly Aging Males, during HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 Pandemics

Abstract

Long-term HIV/AIDS survivors responded online concerning their experiences during the AIDS and COVID pandemics. Recruited from web-based organizations for AIDS survivors, 147 answered questions on: frequency of experiencing stigma, isolation, aloneness, or grief/sadness; pet ownership; and sources of human support during each pandemic. Conditional inference trees were run to identify relevant demographic factors. Post-hoc comparisons were conducted to compare dog owners and cat owners. AIDS survivors reported more frequent feelings of stigma, aloneness, and sadness/grief during the AIDS pandemic than during COVID. Cat owners’ sadness/grief during AIDS was greater than non-owners. During COVID, older respondents unexpectedly were less often sad/grieving than younger ones; dog owners less often felt alone and isolated than non-dog owners. Support during the AIDS pandemic retrospectively was rated better for older respondents; young gays’ support was greater than young straights. During COVID, support was better for men than women. Contrastingly, women with pets felt less support than those without; men with dogs felt more support than those without. Cat owners more often felt isolated and unsupported during COVID than dog owners. Few dog or cat owners received support from family members in either pandemic; during AIDS, family support was better for owners of dogs than cats.

The Well-Being of Companion Animal Caregivers and Their Companion Animals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review

“…Study population sizes ranged from 4-12,068 (mean: 1686; median: 611). Most studies recruited participants from the general population, although some focused on specific subgroups, including people living alone [133,153]; older adults [85,94,108,110,180,192]; adolescents [137,146,147], both children and adolescents [193], both parents and adolescents [95] or both parents and children [117]; parents [80][81][82]91,143,171]; teleworkers [119,125,172]; employees [183]; university students [111,149] or university students with emotional support animals [126]; individuals identifying as sexual or gender minorities [141]; people with severe mental illness [178]; people with dementia and their caregivers [166]; AIDS survivors [114]; unhoused individuals [105]; people with experience of veterinary consultations during the pandemic [92,93]; people who met the criteria for low-income veterinary care support [145]; people who had suffered the loss of an animal during the pandemic [150]; people who had purchased dogs during lockdown [113,157,158,188]; and domestic abuse helpline staff…”

“…Other well-being outcomes did not have mixed (i.e., a combination of positive, negative, and/or neutral) findings, but these outcomes tended to be explored in only a small number of studies, so the findings should be interpreted with caution. We found some evidence that having a companion animal was significantly related to lower tensionanxiety [149] (dog caregivers only), greater emotional well-being [171,179], higher coping self-efficacy [112], lower emotional loneliness caused by deficits in romantic relationships [151], lower isolation [100,114,180], increased socializing [119] (dog caregivers only), greater social functioning [179], greater energy [179], greater perceived positive effects of remote working [125], better self-reported job performance [125] and more time spent outside in the fresh air [143,147] (dog caregivers only, in both studies).…”

“…Gender: Hart et al [114] found that males with dogs reported feeling alone significantly less than males without dogs and also reported greater human social support, but this effect was not found for females. Amiot et al [74] found that having a companion animal was significantly associated with lower well-being (including lower vitality, higher loneliness, lower life satisfaction, lower presence of life, and higher COVID-19 impacts) in females but not males.…”

“…Lower isolation: Damberg and Frömbling [100]; Hart et al [114] (dogs only); van der Velpen et al [180] --…”

“…Type of companion animal: Several studies found that people with dogs had better well-being than those with other animals: compared to people with other animals, dog caregivers felt significantly better supported [114] and had significantly higher vitality [74], greater life satisfaction [74] and greater quality of life [87], as well as significantly lower levels of loneliness [74,114,151], larger reductions in loneliness between lockdown and recovery [151], larger reductions in stress between lockdown and recovery [151], less isolation [114,127], lower levels of insomnia [191], lower fears of COVID-19 infection [191], less sadness [114], less stress [151] and lower COVID-related impacts [74]. Dog caregivers were also significantly more likely to report that their animal helped them maintain a regular schedule [127].…”