ArticleBMC psychiatry2022
The relationship between attachment to pets and mental health: the shared link via attachment to humans.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- Development of the Human-Equine Attachment Scale.Equine veterinary journal · 2026Article
- Pet ownership and risk of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Article
- Human-pet interaction and well-being in mid-to-later adulthood: moderating roles of neuroticism and anxious attachment.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The mediating role of loneliness in the relationship between pet ownership and human well-being.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Health anxiety by proxy differs in phenomenology between parents and dog owners.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Understanding the Relevance of Psychopathological Features in Pets-Owner Relationship: State of the Art and Future Directions - A Narrative Review.Clinical neuropsychiatry · 2025Review
- Exploration of Client Experiences of Veterinary Care for Companion Animals (Dogs and Cats) and the Impact of Trauma-Informed Care on Client Outcomes.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Determination of Nursing Students' Opinions on the Use of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Pediatric Care and Their Animal Love Levels.Nursing & health sciences · 2025Article
- The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- New 28-Item and 12-Item Dog Owner Relationship Scales: Contemporary Versions of the MDORS with a Revised Four-Component Structure.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- An exploratory investigation of psychosocial effects of service dogs on veterans' families from the perspective of family members.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- How Attachment to Dogs and to Other Humans Relate to Mental Health.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Pet Attachment and Anxiety and Depression in Middle-Aged and Older Women.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Walk or be walked by the dog? The attachment role.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Pet attachment and owner personality.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Higher oxytocin concentrations occur in subjects who build affiliative relationships with companion robots.iScience · 2023Article
- Family Bonds with Pets and Mental Health during COVID-19 in Australia: A Complex Picture.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Pet ownership and mental health in United States adults during COVID-19.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Do people really care less about their cats than about their dogs? A comparative study in three European countries.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSeveral studies have investigated the relationship between emotional attachment to pets and mental health with the majority of studies finding a negative relationship between emotional attachment to pets and mental health. Interestingly, attachment to pets differs from attachment to humans with studies showing that humans with an insecure attachment style form a particularly strong emotional attachment to their companion animals. Human attachment style is also related to mental health with secure attachment being associated with superior mental health. Building on those findings, the current study aimed at exploring the role of attachment to humans in the relationship between emotional attachment to pets and mental health.
methodsIn this cross-sectional online survey (N = 610) we assessed the strength of emotional attachment to pets and attachment to humans. We further collected pet specific data as well as mental health burden in a sample of German dog owners (M
resultsWe found that attachment to humans fully mediated the positive association between emotional attachment to pets and mental health burden. A stronger emotional attachment to one's dog was associated with lower comfort with depending on or trusting in others, whereby lower comfort with depending on or trusting in others was related to higher mental health burden. Moreover, a stronger attachment to one's dog was also related to a greater fear of being rejected and unloved (Anxiety), which was, in turn, associated with a higher mental health burden.
conclusionOur findings suggest that the positive link between emotional attachment to pets and mental health burden is fully accounted for by its shared variance with insecure attachment to humans in a sample mostly comprising self-identified women. Future studies need to examine whether strong emotional bonds with pets may evolve as a compensatory strategy to buffer difficult childhood bonding experiences.
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