Grajfoner Dasha, Ke Guek Nee, Wong Rachel Mei Ming
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Putrajaya 62200, Malaysia.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Sep 14;11(9):2689. doi: 10.3390/ani11092689.
The adverse impact of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) on mental and physical health has been witnessed across the globe. Associated mental health and wellbeing issues include stress, social isolation, boredom, and anxiety. Research suggests human-animal interactions may improve the overall wellbeing of an individual. However, this has been less explored in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and the present study examined the effect of pets on the mental health and wellbeing of Malaysians during the lockdown, or movement control order (MCO), due to COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was carried out, with 448 Malaysian participants, who completed online assessments for psychological outcomes, psychological wellbeing, positive-negative emotions, resilience, and coping self-efficacy. Results indicate that pet owners reported significantly better coping self-efficacy, significantly more positive emotions, and better psychological wellbeing, but contrary to expectations, there was no differences on other measures. Among pet owners, cat owners reported more positive emotions and greater wellbeing than dog owners. The results show that that pets have some impact on improved psychological health of their owners and could be integrated into recovery frameworks for promoting mental health and wellbeing.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（COVID-19）对全球身心健康的不利影响已为人所见。相关的心理健康和幸福问题包括压力、社交隔离、无聊和焦虑。研究表明，人与动物的互动可能会改善个体的整体幸福感。然而，在马来西亚等东南亚国家，这方面的研究较少，本研究调查了在因COVID-19大流行而实施封锁或行动管制令（MCO）期间，宠物对马来西亚人心理健康和幸福的影响。开展了一项横断面调查，有448名马来西亚参与者，他们完成了关于心理结果、心理健康、正负情绪、恢复力和应对自我效能的在线评估。结果表明，宠物主人报告的应对自我效能明显更好，积极情绪明显更多，心理健康状况也更好，但与预期相反，在其他指标上没有差异。在宠物主人中，养猫主人比养狗主人报告的积极情绪更多，幸福感更强。结果表明，宠物对其主人改善心理健康有一定影响，可以纳入促进心理健康和幸福的康复框架。
