Owners' Attitudes toward Their Companion Dogs Are Associated with the Owners' Depression Symptoms-An Exploratory Study in South Korea.

ABSTRACT: Background: Various health benefits from the ownership of companion dogs have been studied from a One Health perspective. However, the preventive effects on depression are unclear, with inconsistent results across studies. We hypothesized that heterogeneity among owners would be related to the mixed results. Specifically, the difference in the strength of the bond between the owners and their companion dogs would modify the effect of dog ownership. As an exploratory study, we compared the depression symptoms of the owners with favorable attitudes toward their dogs, with those of the owners with unfavorable attitudes, to investigate the potential effect modification of owners' attitudes on the association between the ownership and depression symptom. Methods: We conducted a web-based questi

SUBMITTER: Min KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6801548 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature