Animal companionship and psycho-social well-being: Findings from a national study of community-dwelling aging Canadians.

Autor: Barrett BJ; School of Social Work, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada. Electronic address: bbarrett@uwindsor.ca., Fitzgerald A; Sociology and Criminology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada. Electronic address: afitz@uwindsor.ca., Al-Wahsh H; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, ON N9B 304, Canada. Electronic address: alwahsh@uwindsor.ca., Musa M; Department of Social Work, Cape Breton University, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, Nova Scotia B1M 1A2, Canada. Electronic address: mohamad_musa@cbu.ca.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of aging studies [J Aging Stud] 2024 Sep; Vol. 70, pp. 101247. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 22.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaging.2024.101247
Abstrakt: A growing body of evidence has provided support for the beneficial impact of human-animal interactions on a range of biological, social, and psychological outcomes for humans; however, less is conclusively known about the association between animal companionship and psycho-social health specifically among aging populations. In this study, we assessed the association between animal companionship and psycho-social well-being in a large sample (N = 30,865) of community dwelling Canadians aged 45 and older. Using cross-sectional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging, we conducted hierarchical multiple regression to assess the relationship between animal companionship and four domains of psycho-social well-being (satisfaction with life, loneliness, depression, and levels of social support) after controlling for socio-demographic factors and psycho-social measures. Results indicate that those with animal companionship report significantly higher levels of social support than aging Canadians without animal companionship; however, animal companionship was also associated with significantly lower levels of life satisfaction and higher levels of both loneliness and depression. These findings complicate the existing literature on human-animal interactions by suggesting the benefits associated with animal companionship may vary across distinct domains of psycho-social health. As such, results from this study highlight the need for more nuanced model specifications when assessing the relationship between animal companionship and psycho-social well-being. Implications of these findings for the provision of social services to older adults with pets are provided.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors of this manuscript have no actual or potential conflicts of interest (personal, financial, or otherwise) to disclose in relation to the subject matter of this manuscript.
(Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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