Northrope Katherine, Shnookal Joanna, Ruby Matthew B, Howell Tiffani J
School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Bendigo 3552, Australia.
School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Apr 16;15(8):1143. doi: 10.3390/ani15081143.
While pet ownership is sometimes associated with better mental health, research on this relationship has been inconsistent. Some researchers have considered what factors may impact this relationship, such as owners' attachment to their pets. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate how attachment to pets relates to owner mental health and wellbeing. This review followed PRISMA guidelines. Searches were conducted using PsychInfo, Scopus and Google Scholar. Any peer-reviewed empirical studies, in English, investigating attachment to pets and mental health and wellbeing outcomes, were included. Of the 116 included studies, 15 studies found that higher attachment was associated with better mental health, 22 studies found that higher attachment was associated with worse mental health, 36 studies found mixed results and 33 studies found no significant relationship. Having a stronger attachment to one's pet tended to be associated with better mental health when investigating outcomes in children, and when investigating outcomes related to wellbeing. Stronger attachment tended to be associated with worse mental health when investigating mental health symptomology (e.g., depression and anxiety). It may also be influenced by the owner's relationships with other people. Due to the cross-sectional design used by studies in this review, we cannot infer the direction of causality for the relationship between attachment to pets and mental health. Results indicate that having a strong attachment to one's pet is not necessarily associated with better mental health and wellbeing. Future longitudinal research is needed to better understand how attachment to pets affects mental health, and what factors may influence this relationship.
虽然养宠物有时与更好的心理健康有关,但关于这种关系的研究结果并不一致。一些研究人员考虑了哪些因素可能会影响这种关系,比如主人对宠物的依恋程度。这项系统评价的目的是调查对宠物的依恋与主人的心理健康和幸福感之间的关系。本评价遵循PRISMA指南。通过PsychInfo、Scopus和谷歌学术进行检索。纳入任何以英文发表的、经过同行评审的实证研究,这些研究调查了对宠物的依恋以及心理健康和幸福感结果。在纳入的116项研究中,15项研究发现更高的依恋程度与更好的心理健康有关,22项研究发现更高的依恋程度与更差的心理健康有关,36项研究结果不一,33项研究未发现显著关系。在调查儿童的结果以及与幸福感相关的结果时,对宠物有更强的依恋往往与更好的心理健康有关。在调查心理健康症状(如抑郁和焦虑)时,更强的依恋往往与更差的心理健康有关。它也可能受到主人与其他人关系的影响。由于本评价中研究采用的横断面设计,我们无法推断对宠物的依恋与心理健康之间关系的因果方向。结果表明,对宠物有强烈的依恋不一定与更好的心理健康和幸福感相关。未来需要进行纵向研究,以更好地理解对宠物的依恋如何影响心理健康,以及哪些因素可能影响这种关系。