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People and Their Companion Animals, Physical or Mental Health Benefits of Both

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Companion Animals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2020) | Viewed by 32126

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mónica Teresa González-Ramírez

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Guest Editor

School of Psychology, Facultad de Psicología, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Nuevo León C.P. 64455, Mexico
Interests: human–animal interaction; companion animals; health psychology; behavioral psychology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The study of the human–animal bond has recently increased, with much of the research focusing on the benefits of this interaction. Beyond animal-assisted therapy, interaction with companion animals has numerous other benefits, as shown by comparisons between people with companion animals and those without. Nevertheless, research focused on mental health has shown contradictory results through the measure of variables such as loneliness and happiness.

The human–animal bond has been studied from different perspectives; one of them is the study of human factors that affect animal behavior and factors that could influence the success of the relationship between the companion animal and the human. There is no agreement on what these factors are, and they could be different from one country to another. As such, more research is needed in this regard.

Original manuscripts that address any aspect of the benefits of human–animal interaction are invited for this Special Issue. Topics of special interest may include: Factors related to the human–animal bond that involve benefits for both the owner and the pet; studies that include variables such as compatibility between humans and companion animals, the amount of time the owner spends with the companion animal, the type of activities that they share, the perceived costs/benefits of the relationship, and the research that evaluates before and after pet ownership, first-time pet owners, and those who are completing the pet adoption process.

Dr. Mónica Teresa González-Ramírez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Human–animal interaction benefits
Human–animal compatibility
Pet effect
Companion animals
Mental health
Physical health
Human–animal bond

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 1671 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is there a Profile of Spontaneous Seizure-Alert Pet Dogs? A Survey of French People with Epilepsy

by Amélie Catala, Patrick Latour, Ana Martos Martinez-Caja, Hugo Cousillas, Martine Hausberger and Marine Grandgeorge

Animals 2020, 10(2), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020254 - 5 Feb 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3654

Abstract

Despite controversies and the lack of research, dogs are empirically selected and trained to perform as service dogs, in relation to the dogs’ and future owners’ characteristics. We assessed the characteristics of both humans and dogs in an unbiased population (not selected or trained) of spontaneous seizure-alert by pet dogs and investigated whether we could replicate previous findings. We addressed a self-reporting questionnaire to French people with epilepsy. We analyzed the general characteristics of the humans and pet dogs and their behaviors that could alert their owner before a seizure. In addition, we used the Monash Canine Personality Questionnaire refined to evaluate pet dogs’ personality through five different traits, and the Monash Dog-Owner Relationship scale to assess human–dog relationships. In line with previous reports, we found no particular factor, either pet-, people- or epilepsy-related that could be associated with the presence or absence of alert behaviors. Alert behaviors and circumstances were explored and three different alert patterns emerged. In terms of personality, seizure-alert pet dogs scored significantly higher than non-alerting dogs for the traits “Motivation” and “Training Focus” and lower for “Neuroticism”. The owner–dog bond score was significantly higher for seizure-alert dogs than for non-alerting dogs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue People and Their Companion Animals, Physical or Mental Health Benefits of Both)

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11 pages, 257 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Compatibility between Humans and Their Dogs: Benefits for Both

by Mónica Teresa González-Ramírez

Animals 2019, 9(9), 674; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9090674 - 12 Sep 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 12754

Abstract

Compatibility in activity preferences refers to the shared enjoyment of daily activities, such as walking and interacting with others, and it is an indicator of the behavioral dimension of compatibility, which mainly refers to exercise and play. It has been found that individuals who are more compatible with their dogs have a better relationship with them, which can explain some of the benefits of human-dog interaction. However, research to explain how and why human-animal relationships are potentially therapeutic is still needed. The objective of this quantitative study was to compare the benefits of human-dog interaction for both humans and dogs between people who were and were not compatible with their dogs. Ninety people with scores of 50% or less on the compatibility index and 110 people with 100% compatibility participated in the study. The groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. The people in the group with greater compatibility reported more subjective happiness and less perceived stress, a stable dog-feeding routine, and more frequent daily walks and playing sessions; additionally, for their dogs, they reported a lower frequency of aggressive and fearful behaviors and higher trainability scores. In conclusion, compatibility in activity preferences helps explain the benefits of human–animal interaction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue People and Their Companion Animals, Physical or Mental Health Benefits of Both)

Review

Jump to: Research, Other

21 pages, 312 KiB

Open AccessReview

Emotional Transfer in Human–Horse Interaction: New Perspectives on Equine Assisted Interventions

by Chiara Scopa, Laura Contalbrigo, Alberto Greco, Antonio Lanatà, Enzo Pasquale Scilingo and Paolo Baragli

Animals 2019, 9(12), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9121030 - 26 Nov 2019

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 13361

Abstract

Equine assisted interventions (EAIs) include all therapeutic interventions aimed at improving human wellbeing through the involvement of horses. Due to the prominent emotional involvement traditionally characterizing their relation with humans, horses developed sophisticated communicative skills, which fostered their ability to respond to human emotional states. In this review, we hypothesize that the proximate causation of successful interventions could be human–animal mutual coordination, through which the subjects bodily and, most importantly, emotionally come into contact. We propose that detecting emotions of other individuals and developing the capacity to fine-tune one’s own emotional states accordingly (emotional transfer mechanism), could represent the key engine triggering the positive effects of EAIs. We provide a comprehensive analysis of horses’ socio-emotional competences according to recent literature and we propose a multidisciplinary approach to investigate this inter-specific match. By considering human and horse as a unique coupling system during the interaction, it would be possible to objectively measure the degree of coordination through the analysis of physiological variables of both human and animal. Merging the state of art on human–horse relationship with the application of novel methodologies, could help to improve standardized protocols for animal assisted interventions, with particular regard to the emotional states of subjects involved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue People and Their Companion Animals, Physical or Mental Health Benefits of Both)