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Pet ownership and symptoms of depression: a prospective study of older adults
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Background This paper aims to examine associations between pet ownership and symptoms of depression in a large, population-based sample of older adults. Specifically, we tested whether: (i) people who report more depressive symptoms are more likely to own a pet; (ii) pet ownership protects against an increase in depressive symptoms over time; (iii) associations differ by symptom type. Methods Data were drawn from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a longitudinal panel study of men and women aged 50 and older (n = 7,617, 52.5% female). Pet ownership (dog/cat/other/none) was self-reported in 2010/11. Depressive symptoms were assessed in 2010/11 and 2016/17 using the 8-item centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. We analysed total CES-D score and derived symptom subscales (depressed mood, anhedonia, somatic symptoms) in relation to pet ownership, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related covariates. Results A one-symptom increase in total CES-D score was associated with 7% increased odds of dog ownership (OR=1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.11). Significant associations were observed between each subset of depressive symptoms and dog ownership, with models run on z-scores showing a slightly stronger association for symptoms of depressed mood (OR=1.13, 95% CI 1.06–1.21) compared with anhedonia (OR=1.10, 95% CI 1.04–1.17) or somatic symptoms (OR=1.10, 95% CI 1.03–1.18). Prospectively, no significant associations were found. Limitations Self-reported data; small sample size for some pet categories. Conclusion Amongst older adults in England, those with more depressive symptoms are more likely to own a dog, but pet ownership is not significantly associated with change in depressive symptoms over time.
- Subjects :
- Male
Longitudinal study
medicine.medical_specialty
Population
Odds
Pet ownership, Older adults, Depression, Depressive symptoms
03 medical and health sciences
Dogs
0302 clinical medicine
Pet ownership
Internal medicine
Animals
Medicine
Longitudinal Studies
Prospective Studies
Prospective cohort study
education
Depressive symptoms
Depression (differential diagnoses)
education.field_of_study
Depression
business.industry
Ownership
Anhedonia
030227 psychiatry
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
England
Older adults
Cats
Female
medicine.symptom
business
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15732517
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....25ad6154a83786cb6a175970342e673a