Companion dog acquisition and mental well-being: a community-based three-arm controlled study.
BMC Public Health
; 19(1): 1428, 2019 Nov 05.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31684914
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Dog ownership is suggested to improve mental well-being, although empirical evidence among community dog owners is limited. This study examined changes in human mental well-being following dog acquisition, including fourmeasures:
loneliness, positive and negative affect, and psychological distress.METHODS:
We conducted an eight-month controlled study involving three groups (n = 71) 17 acquired a dog within 1 month of baseline (dog acquisition); 29 delayed dog acquisition until study completion (lagged control); and 25 had no intentions of acquiring a dog (community control). All participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale (possible scores 0-60), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Kessler10 at baseline, three-months and eight-months. We used repeated measures ANCOVAs to analyse data with owner age and sex included as covariates. Post-hoc tests were performed for significant effects (p < 0.05).RESULTS:
There was a statistically significant group by time interaction for loneliness (p = 0.03), with an estimated reduction of 8.41 units (95% CI -16.57, - 0.26) from baseline to three-months and 7.12 (95% CI -12.55, - 1.69) from baseline to eight-months in the dog acquisition group. The group by time interaction for positive affect was also significant (p = 0.03), although there was no change in the dog acquisition group.CONCLUSIONS:
Companion dog acquisition may reduce loneliness among community dog owners. Our study provides useful direction for future larger trials on the effects of dog ownership on human mental well-being. TRIAL REGISTRATION This trial was retrospectively registered on 5th July 2017 with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12617000967381 ).Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Propriedade
/
Saúde Mental
/
Animais de Estimação
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália