Dog-related activities and human well-being in Brazilian dog owners: A framework and cross-cultural comparison with a British study

Corrêa, Graziani F; Barcelos, Ana Maria; Mills, Daniel S.

doi:10.1177/00368504211050277

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Understanding how a potential owner's expectations about the role dogs have in/on human health match with the reality of dog ownership, and/or affect future satisfaction with the relationship, is an important future research area. It is likely that a dog's impact on human health and wellbeing varies between dog–owner dyads, according to individual needs and circumstances ( 47 ), as well as changing over time within individual dyads, affected by changing circumstances such as a dog's aging ( 48 ). Furthermore, given the emphasis on dogs' anticipated role in providing emotional support indicated in this study's qualitative findings, future research could consider potential welfare implications for dogs arising from the demands made upon them by owners who acquire them to provide emotional support ( 49 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do People Want Dogs? A Mixed-Methods Study of Motivations for Dog Acquisition in the United Kingdom

et al. 2022

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With an estimated 12. 5 million dogs in the UK alone, many people acquire a dog at some point during their lives. However, there are gaps in understanding about why UK owners decide to get dogs. Using a mixed-methods convergent design, this study identified the reasoning behind dog acquisition in a sample of UK current and prospective owners. An online survey of current (n = 8,050) and potential (n = 2,884) dog owners collected quantitative and qualitative data. Current owners were asked about the acquisition of their most recently acquired dog, whilst potential owners were asked about their dog ownership aspirations. Additional qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with current (n = 166) and potential (n = 10) dog owners. Interviews focused on the factors that affected why and how people acquire dogs. Of survey responses, companionship for the respondent was the most common reason for wanting to get a dog, reported by 79.4 and 87.8% of current and potential owners, respectively. Facilitating exercise was reported as a reason for wanting to get a dog by 48.2 and 69.7% of current and potential owners, respectively. There were significant differences between current and potential owners in their likelihood of reporting pre-defined reasons, factors and influences involved in their decision to get a dog. Compared to current owners, potential owners were significantly more likely to report being motivated by most of the survey response options offered (including companionship for themselves or other adults in the household, helping a dog in need, lifestyle changes and previous experiences of meeting dogs), suggesting that current ownership status may affect experience and/or reporting expectations around dog ownership. Reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative data confirmed the importance of these motivations and identified additional reasons and factors that drive dog acquisition. These were organized into three overarching themes: Self-Related Motivation, Social-Based Motivation, and Dog-Related Positive Affect-Based Motivation. These findings provide insights into owners' expectations of ownership which may inform the development of interventions to support potential owners' decision-making around acquisition to maximize both dog and human welfare.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do People Want Dogs? A Mixed-Methods Study of Motivations for Dog Acquisition in the United Kingdom

et al. 2022

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“…Indeed, behavioural problems are one of the main causes of animal relinquishment 9 , 10 . Therefore, behavioural issues may indicate not only poor dog welfare but also poor owner well-being which is in line with owners' own perceptions 4 – 7 , 25 . This could be caused by repeated stress triggered by the behavioural issue per se or by a sense of responsibility for the behaviour of the dog.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The 17 dog-related factors (Table 1 ) chosen for this study were selected due to their relevance in previous investigations 4 – 6 , 25 . Participants self-rated the occurrence of most of these factors over the last seven days, e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Through interviews and focus groups with pet owners, Barcelos et al 4 , 5 , Corrêa et al 25 and Ravenscroft et al 26 developed a consistent framework 27 , which illustrates how pet-related factors in the lives of pet owners may affect owners’ well-being, both positively and negatively. For example, aggressive dog behaviour was consistently reported to reduce dog owners' hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…depression, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal ideation, hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being) in a four-week prospective cohort design. These mental health outcomes are common issues 28 and the well-being outcomes were chosen due to their relevance to dog owners in previous investigations by the authors 4 , 5 , 25 . Hedonic well-being is someone’s affect (emotion and mood) and life satisfaction 29 , and eudaimonic well-being represents one’s areas of functioning in life (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dog owner mental health is associated with dog behavioural problems, dog care and dog-facilitated social interaction: a prospective cohort study

Barcelos,

Kargas,

Assheton

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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Despite numerous qualitative and cross-sectional studies investigating how dog-related factors may impact owners’ well-being, empirical studies to test these causal effects are lacking. This prospective cohort study examined the correlation and potential causal effect of 17 dog-related factors with six well-being outcomes (depression, anxiety, loneliness, suicidal ideation, hedonic well-being and eudaimonic well-being) in dog owners. Over a four-week period, 709 adult dog owners reported their weekly well-being and occurrence of each dog-related factor (e.g. how many times they ran with their dogs). A random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) with significance threshold set at 0.001 was used. Six factors correlated with poorer owner well-being (i.e. aggressive dog behaviour, fearful dog behaviour, poor dog health, failure to provide for the dog, lack of control over the dog, and dog presence). Only ‘friendly conversation with others due to the dog’ correlated with better well-being. Purposeful reductions in the frequency of dog behavioural and health-related issues are likely to improve owner well-being, as well as greater consistency in dog care (i.e. provide for the dog) and more engagement in friendly dog-facilitated social interactions. No potential causal effects were significant. Further studies investigating causal relationships are essential to improve people’s well-being through dog ownership.

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Potential Psychosocial Explanations for the Impact of Pet Ownership on Human Well-Being: Evaluating and Expanding Current Hypotheses

Barcelos

Kargas

Maltby

et al. 2023

Human-Animal Interactions

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There is a set of hypotheses commonly used in the literature to explain how pets affect human well-being (e.g., pets as social catalysts). Many studies are reported as giving results consistent with one or more of these, but they may not appear to be sufficient to explain the impacts of several pet-related activities on owner well-being. Confirmation bias may also overshadow the consideration of alternative mechanisms. This report aims to review and evaluate a range of psychosocial hypotheses that might help to explain how pets affect the well-being of their owners. This included a theoretical testing of the hypotheses against the recurring themes which emerged from four previously published qualitative frameworks relating to pet-related activities and their well-being outcomes. Twelve psychosocial hypotheses were generated and evaluated using this process: (1) social catalyst-repellent, (2) emotional contagion and empathy, (3) social support, (4) biophilia, (5) attributed fault, (6) social norms, (7) annoyance by noises, (8) routine, (9) caring, (10) exercise, (11) learning, and (12) affective touch. Only three presented potentially contradictory evidence (i.e., social catalyst-repellent, routine, and caring hypotheses), but closer examination revealed that these could not be rejected. These twelve hypotheses are a source of reference for a broader consideration of how pets might affect human well-being. Researchers are encouraged to use, test and/or challenge these hypotheses using established methods of scientific falsification in order to identify which are of the most important in relation to specific owner well-being outcomes.

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Dog-related activities and human well-being in Brazilian dog owners: A framework and cross-cultural comparison with a British study

Cited by 8 publications

References 77 publications

Why Do People Want Dogs? A Mixed-Methods Study of Motivations for Dog Acquisition in the United Kingdom

Why Do People Want Dogs? A Mixed-Methods Study of Motivations for Dog Acquisition in the United Kingdom

Dog owner mental health is associated with dog behavioural problems, dog care and dog-facilitated social interaction: a prospective cohort study

Potential Psychosocial Explanations for the Impact of Pet Ownership on Human Well-Being: Evaluating and Expanding Current Hypotheses

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