ArticleBMC psychology2024
Dog ownership, physical activity, loneliness and mental health: a comparison of older adult and younger adult companion animal owners.
Article in BMC psychology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social Capital and Pets in Retirement Villages.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- The protective role of companion animal ownership in cognitive aging: current status of the literature.GeroScience · 2026Review
- Bonded Green Exercise: A One Health Framework for Shared Nature-Based Physical Activity in the Human-Dog Dyad.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Dog Owners Exhibit Better Diet Quality but Similar Physical Activity Compared to Non-Owners: A Case-Control Study.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Pet ownership and risk of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimDog ownership has been suggested as an intervention to increase physical activity and improve mental health, but few studies have investigated the relationships between dog ownership, physical activity, and mental health outcomes together. This study aimed to (1) investigate whether dog ownership, CA-related physical activity, and non-CA-related physical activity were explanatory variables for the relationships between CA ownership, depression, and anxiety via loneliness and (2) examine whether the relationships between these variables differed for older adult CA owners compared to younger adult CA owners.
methodParticipants were Australian CA owners from the community (N = 588, 76.3% female) aged 18-84 years (M = 55.34, SD = 14.90). A cross-sectional design and online/phone survey methodology were used.
resultsPath analysis showed that dog owners (compared to owners of other CA types) engaged in higher levels of both CA-related and non-CA-related physical activity, but only non-CA-related physical activity was associated with mental health outcomes. Multigroup moderation analysis showed that older adult and younger adult CA owners experienced similar moderate levels of loneliness, while in younger adults this moderate loneliness was associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety as compared to older adults.
conclusionOur findings indicate people who choose to own dogs over other CA types engage in more active lifestyles, but it is the physical activity they perform independently of their dog that is associated with less loneliness and greater mental health. Members of the public should not be universally encouraged by health or other professionals to own a dog to support their mental health based on a belief that dog ownership leads to beneficial physical activity.
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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.