Abstract
Simple SummaryPeople have experienced great difficulties in their daily lives from the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines whether living with companion animals and attachment to companion animals influence the moods of university students in Japan. In this study, students answered a questionnaire regarding their demographic data, companion animal ownership, attachment to their companion animals, perceived difficulties from COVID-19, and mood states. The results indicated that companion animal ownership with high attachment to their companion animals would relate to a positive mood in university students majoring in animal sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because of the limited population in size and by the students’ major, the results need to be interpreted as a possible effect of companion animals, and not as conclusive evidence to support the effects of animals.COVID-19 caused great difficulties in many people’s daily lives, including university students in Japan. This study examined whether living with companion animals and attachment to companion animals influence the moods of university students. Students answered a questionnaire, including demographic data, companion animal ownership, attachment to their companion animals, perceived difficulties from COVID-19, and Profile of Mood States 2 (POMS2) results. A total of 180 students answered the questionnaire. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify factors related to the total mood disturbance (TMD) score of the POMS2. In the regression model, perceived difficulties from COVID-19 and having a companion animal and a strong attachment to their companion animals were significantly correlated with TMD and served as the predictor variables. The first variable was positively related to TMD, whereas companion animal ownership with high attachment to their companion animals was negatively related to TMD. This finding indicated that companion animal ownership with high attachment to their companion animals would relate to a positive mood in university students majoring in animal sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, because of the limited population in size and by the students’ major, the results need to be interpreted as a possible effect of companion animals, and not as conclusive evidence to support the effects of animals.
Highlights
This study aimed to investigate whether living with a companion animal and the level of attachment to companion animals influence the mood states of university students majoring in animal sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
The multiple regression model showed that companion animal ownership/attachment served as a predictor variable for the outcome variables of total mood disturbance (TMD), CB
This study aimed to investigate whether living with a companion animal and attachment level influence the mood states of university students majoring in animal sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of new companion animal owners increased in Japan, which was reported in other countries, such as the US and UK [1,2]. According to the annual survey of the Japan Pet Food Association conducted in October 2020, the number of companion dogs and cats within the previous year increased by 114% and 116% compared with in 2019, respectively [3]. In a study conducted in December 2020 on 1000 companion animal (cat and/or dog) owners, the participants were asked about their reasons for starting to live with a dog and/or a cat [4]. The percentage of people who chose “to spend enjoyable time at home” was 61.9% among people who started to live with their companion animals before the pandemic (March 2020) and 74.7%
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