ArticlePloS one2023
Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interventions against loneliness and social isolation in older adults- a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- (Self-)caring with companion animals: a qualitative exploration of how companion animals shape everyday practices of rest and relaxation.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- Article
- Factors of pet ownership associated with human health: A representative cross-sectional survey of Switzerland.PloS one · 2026Article
- Similarities and differences between dog-human and human-human relationships.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Human Preferences for Dogs and Cats in China: The Current Situation and Influencing Factors of Watching Online Videos and Pet Ownership.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Investigating the Reasons behind Companion Animal Relinquishment: A Systematic Content Analysis of Shelter Records for Cats and Dogs, 2018-2023.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Assessment and validation of the pet-owner relationship scale for Brazil.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Examining evidence for a relationship between human-animal interactions and common mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in health services · 2024Review
- 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
- The effects of service dogs for children with autism spectrum disorder and their caregivers: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Longitudinal patterns of companion animals in families with children during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) StudyFrontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- 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
- Description of Twenty-Nine Animal Hoarding Cases in Italy: The Impact on Animal Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pet behavior and human-animal interaction: a longitudinal survey-based study in the United States.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us in numerous ways and may consequently impact our relationships with pet dogs and cats. We conducted a longitudinal survey to examine the temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during four phases of the pandemic: 1) pre-pandemic (February 2020), 2) lockdown (April to June 2020), 3) reopening (September to December 2020), and 4) recovery (January 2021 to December 2021). We also investigated the effect of pet ownership on stress and loneliness, by considering a set of a priori causal assumptions. In addition, we hypothesized that the differences in the levels of stress and loneliness between dog and cat ownerships were mediated by the owner-pet relationship. A total of 4,237 participants (657 non-pet owners, 1,761 dog owners, and 1,819 cat owners) completed between one and six surveys. Overall, the closeness in the relationship between owners and their pets increased with time during the study period. We also observed that dog owners consistently showed larger decreases in the levels of stress and loneliness than cat and non-pet owners. However, after adjusting for confounders, the findings did not support a mitigating effect of pet ownership. Pet ownership did not alleviate stress, social loneliness resulting from a lack of friendships or workplace relationships, or emotional loneliness due to deficiencies in family relationships. Pet owners, however, reported a lower degree of emotional loneliness caused by deficits in romantic relationships than non-pet owners. Our results also indicated that the differences in stress and loneliness levels between dog and cat ownerships were partially explained by the owner-pet relationship, and once this was accounted for, the differences between them reduced. In summary, this study highlights the dynamic effects of COVID-19 on owner-pet relationship and mental health. It also shows the complexity of the association between pet ownership and mental health, partially mediated by owner-pet relationships.
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