ArticleScientific reports2022
Pet ownership and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pet's influence on humans' daily physical activity and mental health: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Factors of pet ownership associated with human health: A representative cross-sectional survey of Switzerland.PloS one · 2026Article
- "My Little Son, My Everything": Comparative Caregiving and Emotional Bonds in Dog and Child Parenting.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Beyond companionship: psycho-social benefits of pet ownership.BMC public health · 2025Article
- An experimental study focusing on mindfulness to capture how our contacts with dogs can promote human well-being.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Cohort Profile Update: Finnish Health in Teens (Fin-HIT).International journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Perceived costs and benefits of companion dog keeping based on a convenience sample of dog owners.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Companion animal and equine clinical research: a Nordic perspective.Acta veterinaria Scandinavica · 2025Article
- Dog ownership, physical activity, loneliness and mental health: a comparison of older adult and younger adult companion animal owners.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Intergenerational Transmission of Human Parenting Styles to Human-Dog Relationships.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- The Link between the Nature of the Human-Companion Animal Relationship and Well-Being Outcomes in Companion Animal Owners.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Occupational Stress Levels among Radiologists and Radiographers in Hungary during the COVID-19 Era.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Predictors of response after single session interventions for emotional distress: using enhanced psychoeducation in crisis situations.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2024Article
- Pet attachment and owner personality.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Protective effects of dog ownership against the onset of disabling dementia in older community-dwelling Japanese: A longitudinal study.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
- The Well-Being of Companion Animal Caregivers and Their Companion Animals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Exploring the role of our contacts with pets in broadening concerns for animals, nature, and fellow humans: a representative study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Behavioural Tendencies of Cats and Dogs in Japan.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Oral health, the patients' perspective during the COVID 19 pandemic.Medicine and pharmacy reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The question of pet ownership contributing to human well-being has received mixed empirical evidence. This contrasts with the lay intuition that pet ownership contributes positively to wellness. In a large representative sample, we investigate the differences that may exist between pet vs. non-pet owners in terms of their well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examine among different sociodemographic strata, for whom pet ownership can be more vs. less beneficial. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among Canadian adults (1220 pet owners, 1204 non-pet owners). Pet owners reported lower well-being than non-pet owners on a majority of well-being indicators; this general pet ownership effect held when accounting for pet species (dogs, cats, other species) and number of pets owned. Compared to owners of other pets, dog owners reported higher well-being. When examining the effect of pet ownership within different socioeconomic strata, being a pet owner was associated with lower well-being among: women; people who have 2 + children living at home; people who are unemployed. Our results offer a counterpoint to popular beliefs emphasising the benefits of pets to human wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic and confirm the importance of accounting for sociodemographic factors to further understand the experience of pet ownership.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.