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Cited by 34Human-Animal Interaction StudiesPosttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchCOVID-19 and Mental Health

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The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

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Lass-Hennemann, Johanna, Schäfer, Sarah K., Sopp, M. Roxanne, Michael, Tanja·2020·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph17072562PMC PMC7178020
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Abstract

Individuals working in high-risk occupations (e.g., emergency staff) are exposed to high levels of occupational stress including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health problems among these occupations. Pet ownership has been associated with better mental health. However, to date a study on the association between pet ownership and indicators of mental health in these occupations is missing. The present cross-sectional survey (N = 580) investigated pet ownership, attachment to pets, health-benefitting factors (i.e., sense of coherence, trait-resilience, locus of control) and psychopathological symptoms (i.e., general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff, police officers, and firefighters. Dog owners and non-dog owners showed comparable levels of psychopathological distress and health-benefitting factors. Compared to cat owners, dog owners demonstrated stronger emotional attachment to their pet. Moreover, a stronger attachment was also linked to higher levels of psychopathological symptoms and lower levels of health-benefitting factors. However, the relationship between attachment to pets and health-benefitting factors could be explained by their overlap with psychopathological symptom levels. Overall, our findings are not in line with the notion that pet ownership generally has a health-benefitting effect. Future studies need to investigate circumstances that modulate positive effects of pet ownership.

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  • The majority of research evidence on pet-effect was considered inconclusive due to methodological limitations such as reliance on self-reports, small sample sizes, homogeneous populations, varying research designs, narrow outcome variables, and cross-sectional designs.

    “The majority of research evidence was also considered inconclusive due to methodological limitations such as reliance on self-reports, small sample sizes that may not be representative of the general population, homogeneous populations, varying research designs, narrow range of outcome variables that were examined, and the use of cross-sectional designs that do not consider long-term health outcom”

    From A One Health Perspective on the Human-Companion Animal Relationship with Emphasis on Zoonotic Aspects. (2020) · cites this paper as [109]

    The Introduction and Discussion describe inconsistent findings on pet ownership and mental health, and the Discussion says this study’s cross-sectional design cannot establish how pet attachment relates to symptom development. The Conclusions call for prospective studies. The paper does not say that the majority of pet-effect research is inconclusive because of the full list of methodological limitations in the claim, including small samples, homogeneous populations, varying designs, and narrow outcomes. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Metadata

Authors
Lass-Hennemann, J., Schäfer, S. K., Sopp, M. R., & Michael, T.
Affiliations
  • Department of Psychology, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany
  • Saarland University (DE)
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2020-04-08
Volume
17
Issue
7
Pages
2562
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph17072562
PMC
PMC7178020
OpenAlex
W3015335699
Cited by
34
References
5
Citations by year
2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5
FWCI
3.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Publications of the UdS (Saarland University) (cc-by)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
Keywords
dog ownership, pet ownership, pet attachment, sense of coherence, trait resilience, locus of control, post-traumatic stress, burnout, mental health, occupational stress, high-risk occupations, healthcare workers, police officers, firefighters, cat owners
MeSH terms
Animals, Cats, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dogs, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Occupations, Ownership, Psychopathology, Pets

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