Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Apr 20, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 20, 2025 - May 23, 2025
Date Accepted: Nov 17, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Pet Ownership, Depression, Anxiety, Well-Being, and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults: Cross-Sectional Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
According to the literature, living with animals provides psychological benefits to the elderly, such as a sense of security, routine, and companionship, as well as offering a sense of purpose and meaning.
Objective:
The study aims to compare symptoms of depression, anxiety, and levels of psychological well-being between elderly pet owners and non-pet owners. Additionally, we compared the cognitive functioning and cognitive reserve between these two groups of elderly individuals.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study included 215 participants aged 59 or older. The following instruments were used: sociodemographic questionnaire, Modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-M), Cognitive Reserve Index Questionnaire (CRIq), Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15), and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Data were collected via video calls through WhatsApp and analyzed using the JASP software. We used the Mann-Whitney test to compare the groups, followed by the rank-biserial correlation test to assess effect size.
Results:
The sample consisted of 53% elderly pet owners and 47% elderly individuals who did not own pets. A significant difference was found between the groups when comparing the total score on the Geriatric Depression Scale (U = 4714, p = 0.02, rb = -0.18). No significant differences were found in the other variables.
Conclusions:
Pet ownership is associated with fewer symptoms of depression among the elderly, suggesting that the companionship of pets contributes to successful aging.
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