Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40281976›Full record

ReviewAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2025

The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review.

Katherine Northrope, Joanna Shnookal, Matthew B Ruby, Tiffani J Howell

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Katherine NorthropeSchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3552, Australia.
Joanna ShnookalSchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia.ORCID 0009-0006-3127-5316
Matthew B RubySchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-9562-6510
Tiffani J HowellSchool of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3552, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4932-5792

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While pet ownership is sometimes associated with better mental health, research on this relationship has been inconsistent. Some researchers have considered what factors may impact this relationship, such as owners' attachment to their pets. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate how attachment to pets relates to owner mental health and wellbeing. This review followed PRISMA guidelines. Searches were conducted using PsychInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar. Any peer-reviewed empirical studies, in English, investigating attachment to pets and mental health and wellbeing outcomes, were included. Of the 116 included studies, 15 studies found that higher attachment was associated with better mental health, 22 studies found that higher attachment was associated with worse mental health, 36 studies found mixed results and 33 studies found no significant relationship. Having a stronger attachment to one's pet tended to be associated with better mental health when investigating outcomes in children, and when investigating outcomes related to wellbeing. Stronger attachment tended to be associated with worse mental health when investigating mental health symptomology (e.g., depression and anxiety). It may also be influenced by the owner's relationships with other people. Due to the cross-sectional design used by studies in this review, we cannot infer the direction of causality for the relationship between attachment to pets and mental health. Results indicate that having a strong attachment to one's pet is not necessarily associated with better mental health and wellbeing. Future longitudinal research is needed to better understand how attachment to pets affects mental health, and what factors may influence this relationship.

Indexed as

catsdogsmental illnesspet–owner bondpet–owner relationships

Identifiers

PMID40281976
PMCPMC12023967

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.