Introduction: The prevalence of internalizing symptoms in college students is well established. Recognizing studies suggesting pet ownership may benefit mental health, this study explored the relationship between pet ownership, internalizing symptoms (IS), and social support (SS) in students across 4-years of college.
Methodology: A cohort of 1331 students (mean age 18.46, 65% female, and 53% non-white) participating in an annual, university-wide survey of mental health and substance abuse outcomes completed pet ownership questions included in surveys in Year 2 (items on pet ownership and pet attachment) and Year 4 (items on currently living with a pet and missing absent pets). Annual online surveys included Symptom Checklist-90 items assessing IS and RAND Medical Outcomes items assessing SS. Covariates assessed were Personality (Big Five Inventory) and gender. Independent t-tests were used to explore trends in IS and SS by growing up with a pet. A fixed regression model was used to examine effects of pet ownership variables and covariates on IS.
Main Results: With no differences at college entry, students growing up with pets had greater IS in spring of Year 1 (t=2.73, df=1198, p=0.006), Year 2 (t=5.07, df=765, p<0.001), Year 3 (t=2.21, df=819, p=0.027) and Year 4 (t=2.93, df=701, p=0.003) and greater SS in Year 1 (t=2.30, df=1162, p=0.021), Year 2 (t=2.05, df=1276, p=0.040) and Year 3 (t=3.60, df=806, p<0.001) than students growing up without pets. After adjusting for covariates, currently living with a pet (β=-1.14, SE=0.55, p=0.039), but not growing up with a pet, contributed to increased IS in Year 4. Unlike males, females experiencing higher IS in Year 1 were more likely to live with pets in Year 4, females in Year 4 living with pets had higher IS than females living without pets, and females not living with their pets and missing them a great deal had higher IS than females missing them less.
Principal Conclusions/Implications for the Field: Results suggest a unique relationship between IS in female college students and their pet relationships that is not seen in males. Further longitudinal studies are warranted on how pet ownership characteristics may impact student mental health.