Pet Ownership, Pet Attachment, and Longitudinal Changes in Psychological Health—Evidence from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
This study provides important longitudinal evidence that PO may reduce age-related decline in owners' psychological health later in life. Pet attachment does not appear to be the mechanism for the advantages of PO. We suggest potential reasons. Additional research is needed to confirm mechanisms.
Authors
- Merve Gurlu
- Barbara Resnick
- Nancy R. Gee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2890-9884)
- Erika Friedmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2924-0449)
- Eleanor Marie Simonsick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5460-3494)
- Ikmat Adesanya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1785-0215)
- Soyeon Shim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5817-0300)
Institutions
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- National Institute on Aging (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geriatrics
- Published
- 2025-11-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics10060156
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.82
Funders
- National Institutes of Health