PET OWNERSHIP IN RELATION TO DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND ANGER IN WORKING WOMEN

Research has shown that certain populations such as nursing home patie nts and physically ill patients have benefited psychologically from pe t ownership. Recent studies have indicated that the relationship betwe en pet ownership and well-being may be complex We examined the relatio nship between pet ownership and emotional distress among working women . We also studied the relationship between pet attachment and emotiona l distress. Participants were 42 cat and/or dog owners and 42 nonowner s who were women employees of the American Medical Association. Each c ompleted an inventory on depression, anxiety, and anger. Pet owners al so completed a scale to assess degree of attachment to the pet. Result s revealed that there were no significant differences between owners a nd nonowners on any of the measures and that pet attachment was not as sociated with any of the measures. When compared with national norms, results indicated that pet owners from the present study were signific antly more attached to their pets. We concluded that pet ownership may be less therapeutic for working women because they may have insuffici ent time to spend with their pets that would result in therapeutic eff ects.