Mechanism of Social Support from Pet Ownership / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To examine the social support mechanism of pet ownership and pet attachment.Method:A total of 321 pet owners and 418 non pet owners above 40 years in Beijing were measured with questionnaires.Results: (1) Pet ownership showed significant correlations with physical health and life satisfaction.Compared with non pet owners,pet owners had better physical health and life satisfaction (β=0.074;P<0.05,β=0.110;P<0.01).(2)Pet ownership could change the effect of recent life events on the physical health but not on life satisfaction (Z=2.59,P<0.01).(3) Pet attachment showed significant correlations with life satisfaction.The pet owners with more pet attachment had higher life satisfaction.Conclusions:Pet ownership has significant main effect of social support as well as buffering effect of social support.They appear as the significant moderating effects on recent life events and physical health.Pet attachment has significant main effect of social support,and few buffering effects of social support.