Does owning a pet protect older people against loneliness?
Does owning a pet protect older people against loneliness?
Background
Pet ownership is thought to make a positive contribution to health, health behaviours and the general well-being of older people. More specifically pet ownership is often proposed as a solution to the problem of loneliness in later life and specific ‘pet based’ interventions have been developed to combat loneliness. However the evidence to support this relationship is slim and it is assumed that pet ownership is a protection against loneliness rather than a response to loneliness. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between pet ownership and loneliness by exploring if pet ownership is a response to, or protection against, loneliness using Waves 0–5 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Methods
Using data from 5,210 men and women in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, cross-sectional and longitudinal regression analysis was used to assess the bi-directional relationship between loneliness and pet ownership among adults aged 50+.
Results
In 2001 (wave 0) 41% of participants were pet owners compared with 30% in 2010 (Wave 5). The association between pet ownership and loneliness is stronger in women than men, and in both directions (i.e. pet ownership predicting loneliness and loneliness predicting pet ownership) and of the similar magnitude (OR 1.2-1.4). Age, social relationships, demographic factors and health behaviour variables have only a minimal influence upon the association between loneliness and pet ownership. The results of our longitudinal analysis showed that women who reported being lonely always in Waves 0 to 5 were more likely to have a pet in Wave 5.
Conclusion
Reported loneliness is dependent on socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, household income, household living arrangements and health status. Taking those factors into account, owning a pet significantly influences later reporting of loneliness in women in our longitudinal analysis. In the reverse direction, reported loneliness influences pet ownership in later waves. In both directions, the relatively strong gender interaction suggests the association is limited to women with effects for men minimal or non-existent.
loneliness, ELSA, pet ownership, longitudinal study, old people
1-10
Pikhartova, Jitka
3f9c309d-2cc2-40e4-ab6a-f9a07e96694a
Bowling, Ann
796ca209-687f-4079-8a40-572076251936
Victor, Christina
8b429fcf-a2bc-459f-8f87-d6f168f5d2a0
20 September 2014
Pikhartova, Jitka
3f9c309d-2cc2-40e4-ab6a-f9a07e96694a
Bowling, Ann
796ca209-687f-4079-8a40-572076251936
Victor, Christina
8b429fcf-a2bc-459f-8f87-d6f168f5d2a0
Abstract
Background
Pet ownership is thought to make a positive contribution to health, health behaviours and the general well-being of older people. More specifically pet ownership is often proposed as a solution to the problem of loneliness in later life and specific ‘pet based’ interventions have been developed to combat loneliness. However the evidence to support this relationship is slim and it is assumed that pet ownership is a protection against loneliness rather than a response to loneliness. The aim of this paper is to examine the association between pet ownership and loneliness by exploring if pet ownership is a response to, or protection against, loneliness using Waves 0–5 from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
Methods
Using data from 5,210 men and women in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, cross-sectional and longitudinal regression analysis was used to assess the bi-directional relationship between loneliness and pet ownership among adults aged 50+.
Results
In 2001 (wave 0) 41% of participants were pet owners compared with 30% in 2010 (Wave 5). The association between pet ownership and loneliness is stronger in women than men, and in both directions (i.e. pet ownership predicting loneliness and loneliness predicting pet ownership) and of the similar magnitude (OR 1.2-1.4). Age, social relationships, demographic factors and health behaviour variables have only a minimal influence upon the association between loneliness and pet ownership. The results of our longitudinal analysis showed that women who reported being lonely always in Waves 0 to 5 were more likely to have a pet in Wave 5.
Conclusion
Reported loneliness is dependent on socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, household income, household living arrangements and health status. Taking those factors into account, owning a pet significantly influences later reporting of loneliness in women in our longitudinal analysis. In the reverse direction, reported loneliness influences pet ownership in later waves. In both directions, the relatively strong gender interaction suggests the association is limited to women with effects for men minimal or non-existent.
Text
1471-2318-14-106.pdf
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More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 September 2014
Published date: 20 September 2014
Keywords:
loneliness, ELSA, pet ownership, longitudinal study, old people
Organisations:
Faculty of Health Sciences
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 371914
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/371914
ISSN: 1471-2318
PURE UUID: aa5e5107-9803-45fd-9f2f-14ee6c605eaf
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Date deposited: 18 Nov 2014 16:54
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:28
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Contributors
Author:
Jitka Pikhartova
Author:
Christina Victor
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