Associations between Stress and Quality of Life: Differences between Owners Keeping a Living Dog or Losing a Dog by Euthanasia

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

Objectives The loss of a pet may be stressful to the owner. The main objectives of this study were to compare the levels of stress and to explore the correlates of QOL of healthy adults who currently own or who have just lost their dog. Methods The study sample contained 110 current, and 103 bereaved dog owners, all females, who lost their dogs due to euthanasia. QOL was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and divided into four major domains–Physical, Psychological, Relationship, and Environmental. Demographic variables, stress, health behaviors, and social support from family, friends, and significant other were included in multivariate analysis. Results Stress levels were significantly higher in bereaved owners. QOL in three of the four domains (Physical, Psychological, and Relationship) of current owners were significantly better than among bereaved owners. Stress was significantly associated with these three domains of QOL. Quality of life was found to be positively associated with social support. Age was related directly only to current owners’ QOL. Conclusions The results suggest that a loss of a dog is associated with stress for the bereaved owner and reduced physical, psychological, and relationship QOL. Lack of social support in the case of death of a companion animal has a strong effect on owners’ grief reactions.

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Associations between Stress and Quality of Life: Differences between Owners Keeping a Living Dog or Losing a Dog by Euthanasia

March Associations between Stress and Quality of Life: Differences between Owners Keeping a Living Dog or Losing a Dog by Euthanasia Lilian Tzivian 0 1 Michael Friger 0 1 Talma Kushnir 0 1 0 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University of Negev , Beer Sheba , Israel 1 Academic Editor: Craig Gordon Ruaux, Oregon State University , UNITED STATES - Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The loss of a pet may be stressful to the owner. The main objectives of this study were to compare the levels of stress and to explore the correlates of QOL of healthy adults who currently own or who have just lost their dog. The study sample contained 110 current, and 103 bereaved dog owners, all females, who lost their dogs due to euthanasia. QOL was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and divided into four major domainsPhysical, Psychological, Relationship, and Environmental. Demographic variables, stress, health behaviors, and social support from family, friends, and significant other were included in multivariate analysis. Stress levels were significantly higher in bereaved owners. QOL in three of the four domains (Physical, Psychological, and Relationship) of current owners were significantly better than among bereaved owners. Stress was significantly associated with these three domains of QOL. Quality of life was found to be positively associated with social support. Age was related directly only to current owners QOL. The results suggest that a loss of a dog is associated with stress for the bereaved owner and reduced physical, psychological, and relationship QOL. Lack of social support in the case of death of a companion animal has a strong effect on owners grief reactions. The self-reported physical and psychological benefits of owning a dog have been documented in social science research [1]. The research suggests that pets can provide a range of benefits to humans, including health benefits [24]. Since the 1980s, numerous publications have demonstrated an improvement in peoples quality of life (QOL) due to their contact with pets. The psychological benefits of pet-human interaction have been investigated mainly among sick individuals [5]. For example, a significant difference on the well-being scale was found between sick pet owners and sick non-owners [6]. While there are several hypotheses that attempt to explain the health benefits of dog ownership by focusing mainly on the nature of the relationship between owners and their dogs [7], there seems to be no agreement as to the underlying mechanisms responsible for these effects [1]. Because cats and dogs have average lifespans of about 1015 years, much shorter than that of their owners, pet owners frequently face pet loss. The loss of a pet may be very stressful to the owner [811], whether these deaths were caused by euthanasia, accident, or by the progress of illness [12]. The longer one has a pet, the greater the attachment can become [1314], and this strong attachment may provoke a distress reaction upon a pets death. Many people grieve for their pets in much the same way as they do for the deaths of their friends [15]. Families are known to experience a range of emotions in response on the loss of animal, such as a deep sense of sadness, grieving, crying, and even depression [1617]. In extreme cases, the mourning resulted in hospitalization for psychiatric treatment [18], although the percentage of people expressing major pathological reactions is relatively low at 512% [16]. One of the most important factors contributing to the intensity of stress reactions following the loss of a pet is the owners age [19]. Many studies have shown that the loss of a pet resulted in a very difficult and painful time for children who felt guilty about the death and could not accept it [20]. Planchon and Templer (1996) found a more intense grief reaction among younger rather than older pet owners [21]. The relationships of adolescents with pets tend to be more intense, which may explain why it takes them longer to get over the grief [20]. Another important factor that can affect or moderate the levels of stress and well-being at the time of stressful events is social support that a person receives. Although the significant role of social support in the case of the death of a close relative has been demonstrated [22], the death of a family pet is not fully recognized as a significant loss, especially among those who do not own pets, and grieving owners are often left without strong social support [23]. Even veterinarians can underestimate the impact of the loss of a pet on their clients [24]. Such lack of social support may increase the likelihood that the bereaved person will avoid the processing of loss [25]. The main objectives of this study were to explore the correlates of quality of life of healthy adults who currently own a live dog in comparison to owners who have just lost thei (...truncated)


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Lilian Tzivian, Michael Friger, Talma Kushnir. Associations between Stress and Quality of Life: Differences between Owners Keeping a Living Dog or Losing a Dog by Euthanasia, PLOS ONE, 2015, 3, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121081