COVID-19: Companion Animals Help People Cope during Government-Imposed Social Isolation

IF 0.6 4区农林科学 Q4 SOCIOLOGY

Society & Animals Pub Date : 2021-02-02 DOI:10.1163/15685306-BJA10035

Elizabeth Johnson, Shelly Volsche

引用次数: 10

Abstract

This research explores the impact of government-imposed social isolation orders on homes with companion animals. Data were collected April through May 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of 234 Americans observing social isolation orders included demographic questions; questions about relationships to other persons and companion animals within the home; and Likert-scale questions designed to probe the complexities of these relationships and their influences on perceived stress and isolation. We hypothesized that the presence of companion animals helps to mitigate stressors related to observing social isolation orders, with those living alone experiencing more benefit and homes with children experiencing less. The results suggest that the presence of companion animals alleviates stress and isolation by providing attachment figures and activities on which to focus one’s energy. These results support that companion animals are increasingly viewed as members of one’s family and provide social support during stressful life events.

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新冠肺炎：伴侣动物帮助人们应对政府期间的社会孤立

这项研究探讨了政府强制实施的社会隔离令对有伴侣动物的家庭的影响。数据收集于2020年4月至5月，即新冠肺炎大流行开始时。一项针对234名遵守社交隔离令的美国人的调查包括人口统计问题；与家中其他人和伴侣动物的关系问题；以及Likert量表问题，旨在探究这些关系的复杂性及其对感知压力和孤立的影响。我们假设，伴侣动物的存在有助于缓解与遵守社会隔离令有关的压力，那些独自生活的动物会得到更多的好处，而有孩子的家庭会得到更少的好处。研究结果表明，伴侣动物的存在通过提供可以集中精力的依恋图形和活动来缓解压力和孤立。这些结果支持伴侣动物越来越多地被视为家庭成员，并在紧张的生活事件中提供社会支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Society & Animals 社会科学-兽医学

CiteScore

1.40

自引率

12.50%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Society & Animals publishes studies that describe and analyze our experiences of non-human animals from the perspective of various disciplines within both the Social Sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science) and the Humanities (e.g., history, literary criticism). The journal specifically deals with subjects such as human-animal interactions in various settings (animal cruelty, the therapeutic uses of animals), the applied uses of animals (research, education, medicine and agriculture), the use of animals in popular culture (e.g. dog-fighting, circus, animal companion, animal research), attitudes toward animals as affected by different socializing agencies and strategies, representations of animals in literature, the history of the domestication of animals, the politics of animal welfare, and the constitution of the animal rights movement.