Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7DL, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 7;18(11):6171. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18116171.
Companion animals may be a positive presence for their owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the welfare of a companion animal is strongly influenced by the behaviour of their owners, as well as their physical and social environment. We aimed to investigate the reported changes in companion animal welfare and behaviour and to examine the association between these changes and companion animal owners' mental health.
A cross-sectional online survey of UK residents over 18 years of age was conducted between April and June 2020 (n = 5926). The questionnaire included validated, bespoke items measuring outcomes related to mental health, human-animal bonds and reported changes in animal welfare and behaviour. The final item of the survey invited open-ended free-text responses, allowing participants to describe experiences associated with human-animal relationships during the first UK lockdown phase.
Animal owners made up 89.8% of the sample (n = 5323), of whom 67.3% reported changes in their animal's welfare and behaviour during the first lockdown phase (n = 3583). These reported changes were reduced to a positive (0-7) and negative (0-5) welfare scale, following principal component analysis (PCA) of 17 items. Participants reported more positive changes for cats, whereas more negative changes were reported for dogs. Thematic analysis identified three main themes relating to the positive and negative impact on companion animals of the COVID-19 pandemic. Generalised linear models indicated that companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores pre-lockdown reported fewer negative changes in animal welfare and behaviour. However, companion animal owners with poorer mental health scores since lockdown reported more changes, both positive and negative, in animal welfare and behaviour.
Our findings extend previous insights into perceived welfare and behaviour changes on a very limited range of species to a wider range of companion animals. Owner mental health status has a clear, albeit small, effect on companion animal welfare and behaviour.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，伴侣动物可能会给它们的主人带来积极的影响。然而，伴侣动物的福利受到其主人行为以及其身体和社会环境的强烈影响。我们旨在调查伴侣动物福利和行为的报告变化，并研究这些变化与伴侣动物主人心理健康之间的关联。
我们在 2020 年 4 月至 6 月期间对英国 18 岁以上的居民进行了一项横断面在线调查（n = 5926）。问卷包括经过验证的、定制的项目，用于衡量与心理健康、人与动物关系以及报告的动物福利和行为变化相关的结果。调查的最后一个项目邀请了开放式自由文本回复，允许参与者描述在英国首次封锁期间与人类-动物关系相关的经验。
动物主人占样本的 89.8%（n = 5323），其中 67.3%（n = 3583）报告在第一次封锁期间他们的动物的福利和行为发生了变化。在对 17 个项目进行主成分分析（PCA）后，这些报告的变化被简化为一个正（0-7）和负（0-5）福利量表。与狗相比，猫的报告变化更为积极。主题分析确定了与 COVID-19 大流行对伴侣动物的积极和消极影响相关的三个主要主题。广义线性模型表明，在封锁前心理健康评分较低的伴侣动物主人报告的动物福利和行为的负面变化较少。然而，自封锁以来心理健康评分较低的伴侣动物主人报告的动物福利和行为的变化更多，包括积极和消极变化。
我们的发现扩展了以前对有限范围内物种感知福利和行为变化的见解，涵盖了更广泛的伴侣动物。主人的心理健康状况对伴侣动物的福利和行为有明显的影响，尽管影响很小。
