Are you Lonesome Tonight?
New study explores impact of pets on loneliness during pandemic.
By Julia Jones
A new study in the Open-Access Journal Animals examines the links between companion animal (pet) guardianship (ownership), loneliness, and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also provides evidence that many people perceive psychological and emotional benefits from their relationship with their pet, which may translate into a greater bond and potentially improved mental well-being and loneliness.
People believe pets provide meaningful social support. Led by the University of the West of Scotland, with support from the Waltham Petcare Science Institute this large-scale study used an embedded mixed-methods design, with a qualitative component embedded within the larger quantitative study.
While cross-sectional data showed no association between pet guardianship and loneliness or well-being, qualitative findings demonstrated that pet guardians believed such effects exist. “Despite being physically isolated from friends, family or colleagues, having a pet meant never truly being alone,” noted Heather Clements, Ph.D. student on the study from the University of the West of Scotland.
In the online survey of 1,199 participants, those who kept companion animals overwhelmingly rated them as having had a positive effect on their well-being during the pandemic. Of those surveyed, ~85% of dog owners and ~75% of cat owners believed their pets had an extremely or moderately positive effect, while fewer dog owners (~10%) and cat owners (~20%) believed their pet had a slightly positive effect or no effect at all. Fish owners, however, were more evenly split across these four categories (extremely positive, moderately positive, slightly positive, and no effect at all) and for all animal types, only a small minority of participants rated their companion animals as having had any degree of negative effect on their well-being.
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