Psychological Sequelae of Pet Loss Following Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

One ot the many impacts of natural disasters on the well-being of the humans who experience them is ontorced abandonment and loss of companion animals. Hurricane Katrina, whioh struck the gulf coast of the United States in late August, 2005, was suoh a disaster. This study assessed the psyohologtcal effects of pef loss on suiwors of Hurricane Katrina. Sijcty-five predominantly wtiite, female, middle-aged pet owners who lived in affected regions of the country completed online questionnaires, assessing symptoms of depression, acute stress, peri-traumatic dissociation, and posttraumatio stress disorder (FTSD). Almost all companion animals were oats or dogs. Pet ioss was strongly associated with psyohopathology across all measures, even when controlling for displacement from the home (Wilks' Lambda F(4 57, = 5.22, p = 0.001). The impact of pet bss on FTSD was mediated by aoute stress and dissociative symptoms during the evacuation (both F(, g,, > 9.3. both p < 0.01). This suggests that forced abandonment of a companion animal during an evacuation adds considerably to the aoute trauma, thereby increasing the risk of longterm PTSD. The impact of pet loss on depressive symptoms, however, was Independent of acute stress and dissociation {F,T31) = 15.03, p = 0.001), suggesting that it is both the aoute loss of the pet as well as the continued absence of the pet itself that contributes to depressive symptom severity.

Pet Attachment Quastionnaire: Validity and Reliability Study

“…Evcil hayvan ve insan arasındaki ilişkiyi konu alan araştırmalarda bağlanmanın özellikleri olması dikkat çekicidir. Evcil hayvandan ayrılmanın kaygıya veya evcil hayvan kaybının yasa yol açtığı (Hunt, Al-Awadi ve Johnson, 2008;Kwong ve Bartholomew, 2011;Schaffer, 2009;Wrobel ve Dye, 2003), evcil hayvanla yakınlığı korumanın önemli diğerleriyle yakınlığı korumayla benzer olduğu (Hall ve ark., 2004;Kurdek, 2008;Prato-Previde, Fallani ve Valsecchi, 2006); kaygı verici durumdayken bireylerin evcil hayvanlarını destek mekanizması olarak gördükleri ve bu durumda olan bireylerin evcil hayvanlarına bağlanma düzeylerinin daha yüksek olduğu (Albert ve Bulcroft, 1988;Allen, Balscovich ve Mendes, 2002;Geisler, 2004) gösterilmiştir. Dolayısıyla, kuramsal ve görgül arka plan evcil hayvana bağlanmanın, bir bağlanma yaşantısı olduğunu desteklemektedir.…”

Animais de estimação em contexto de desastres: desafios de (des)proteção

“…Todavia, os riscos são equivalentes. Em seu estudo sobre sequelas psicológicas após a perda de um animal de estimação com sobreviventes do Katrina, Hunt et al (2008) concluíram que a perda do animal teve, para alguns, um impacto maior do que ser deslocado de sua casa. Como vários estudos apontam, muitos tutores optaram por permanecer em suas casas com seus animais de estimação, se estes forem impedidos de lhes acompanhar.…”

Can a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder be caused by a Traumatic Injury to a Companion Pet?

“…In one study, 65 predominantly Caucasian female pet owners who survived Hurricane Katrina were evaluated for signs and symptoms of psychological distress. Results showed that pet loss was a significant predictor of acute stress, peritraumatic dissociation, and PTSD symptom severity Hunt et al [8]. In contrast, death of a companion pet was found to cause significant symptoms of grief in owners due to attachment but rarely severe psychopathological reactions such as PTSD Adrian et al [9].…”

“…While significant research exists on the benefits of companion pets, very few studies have explored the psychological sequelae of actual or threatened companion pet loss and the relationship to PTSD. Forced abandonment and/or loss of a pet during a natural disaster were found to increase the risk of acute stress and PTSD while controlling for loss of home Hunt et al [8]. In one study, 65 predominantly Caucasian female pet owners who survived Hurricane Katrina were evaluated for signs and symptoms of psychological distress.…”