City Research Online

Abstract

Background and aims: There is increasing evidence to suggest companion animal ownership may positively impact mental health and wellbeing. However, there is limited research related to the role of companion animal ownership for mental health that focuses on people living with severe mental illness (SMI). We aimed to explore the connection among loneliness, mental health, wellbeing, animal ownership, and the perceived strength of the human-animal bond in this population.

Methods: We conducted a survey in an existing UK cohort of people living with SMI. The survey questionnaire included standardized measures to collect information related to mental health, loneliness, and the perceived strength of the human-animal bond.

Results: Of 286 participants who had previously consented to participate in the follow-up survey, 170 participants (59.4%) completed the survey. Of these, 81 (47.6%) owned at least one animal, and most perceived to have a strong human-animal bond with their companion animal as indicated by the Comfort from Companion Animals Scale (M = 39.80 of a maximum score of 44). However, regression analyses showed that owning an animal was not significantly associated with wellbeing, depression, anxiety, or loneliness scores. Likewise, the perceived strength of the human-animal bond was not significantly associated with animal species owned or wellbeing, depression, and anxiety scores.

Conclusion: The findings provide a counterpoint to the commonly held assumption that companion animals are beneficial for all owners’ mental health. Further exploration of the role of human-animal relationships, including challenges and support needs related to animal ownership, in people living with SMI is required.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Authors 2023. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher Keywords:	companion animals, human-animal interaction, human-animal relationships, human-animal bond, mental health, severe mental illness
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Nursing
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Preview

Text - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution International Public License 4.0.
Download (194kB) | Preview

Export

Downloads