Pets vs Humans: Who provides more meaningful social support to stressed pet owners?

Background: Mental health issues are prevalent in Australia. Social support has been observed as a protective factor against the effects of negative mental health among the general population. There are a substantial number of pet owners in Australia, and indications that emotional support is provided by pets. Whilst many pet owners report that their pets are a source of emotional support, clinicians question how important are pets, when compared to human companions, in affecting pet owner’s mental health. Objectives: This study examined the relationship between social support from humans and pets, and pet owner’s mental health. Methods: 112 pet owners completed measures related to mental health symptoms and perceived social support from families, friends, and significant others and emotional support from pets. Data was collected using three validated self-report scales, to assess mental health, perceived social support from humans, and perceived emotional comfort from pets. These were administered via an anonymous online survey over a period of 3 months to an Australian adult sample sourced via social media and veterinary practices. The collected data were analysed via a Pearson correlational analysis using SPSS (Version 27). Results: Whilst the study observed a significant relationship between human social support and pet owner’s mental health (r = 0.21, P < 0.05), social support from pets was not observed to be related with pet owner’s general mental health (r = 0.02, P > 0.05). Conclusion: When patients with mental health problems have pets, health care professionals need to encourage the patients to also source human social support, and not to rely on their pets to be the main source of social support.