COVID impacts on human-animal relationship and mental health

<p>Data (without imputation) used in the analysis for the paper, titled: Temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect of pet ownership on mental health: A longitudinal survey, published in the PLOS ONE. </p>

<p>We conducted a longitudinal survey to examine the temporal patterns of owner-pet relationship, stress, and loneliness during four phases of the pandemic: 1) pre-pandemic (February 2020), 2) lockdown (April to June 2020), 3) reopening (September to December 2020), and 4) recovery (January 2021 to December 2021). We also investigated the effect of pet ownership on stress and loneliness, by considering a set of a priori causal assumptions. In addition, we hypothesized that the differences in the levels of stress and loneliness between dog and cat ownerships were mediated by the owner-pet relationship. A total of 4,237 participants (657 non-pet owners, 1,761 dog owners, and 1,819 cat owners) completed between one and six surveys. </p>