Department of Clinical Sciences, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University; Tufts Institute for Human-Animal Interaction; Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University, North Grafton, MA, USA.
Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Fredonia, NY, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2018 Mar 9;18(1):305. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5188-0.
We focused on human-animal interaction (HAI) as an important aspect of social functioning at the individual level, framing this emerging field from a public health perspective.
Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2012 HAI module, we describe the characteristics of pet ownership in a population of older adults, and examine the relation between pet ownership and multiple mental and physical health indicators such as health status, depression, and physical activity.
Of the 1657 participants in our subsample, approximately half (51.5%) reported being pet owners; the majority owned dogs or cats, and most had only one pet. Pet ownership was significantly associated with a higher likelihood of ever having had depression, with pet owners being 1.89 times more likely to have experienced depression. However, pet ownership was not associated with having experienced depression within the last week.
The findings from this study could indicate a relationship between pet ownership and depression, but it is impossible to determine the directionality of that relationship. It is possible that owning a pet may put a person at an increased risk of developing depression, or individuals who are at risk, or who have already developed depression, may acquire a pet as a way of managing their depressive symptoms. The findings of this study provide an initial step in contributing to our understanding of the relationship between companion animals and the social, physical, and mental well-being of the HRS study population. Future research should include measures of HAI in longitudinal, population-based surveys.
我们关注人类与动物的互动（HAI），将其作为个体层面社会功能的一个重要方面，并从公共卫生的角度来构建这一新兴领域。
利用 2012 年健康与退休研究（HRS）HAI 模块的数据，我们描述了老年人群体中宠物拥有情况的特点，并考察了宠物拥有情况与多项心理健康和身体健康指标（如健康状况、抑郁和身体活动）之间的关系。
在我们的子样本中，约有一半（51.5%）的参与者报告拥有宠物；大多数人拥有狗或猫，而且大多数人只有一只宠物。宠物拥有情况与抑郁经历的可能性显著相关，宠物拥有者患抑郁的可能性是没有宠物者的 1.89 倍。然而，宠物拥有情况与过去一周内经历抑郁无关。
本研究结果可能表明宠物拥有情况与抑郁之间存在关系，但无法确定这种关系的方向性。可能是养宠物会增加一个人患抑郁的风险，或者是有风险的人，或者已经患有抑郁的人，可能会养宠物来控制他们的抑郁症状。本研究的结果为增进我们对伴侣动物与 HRS 研究人群的社会、身体和心理健康之间关系的理解提供了初步步骤。未来的研究应包括在纵向、基于人群的调查中测量 HAI。
