Dog Walking and the Social Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness in Older Adults

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Growing evidence suggests that pets are beneficial to the health and wellbeing of older adults. These benefits have been more consistently shown among individuals navigating stressful situations and among those who have a strong attachment to their pet. Recent research suggests that older adults who walk their dogs experience fewer symptoms of loneliness than those who do not walk their dogs. The current study was designed to evaluate whether dog walking helps older adults facing significant social consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic avoid increased feelings of loneliness. Our study shows that those who reported that COVID-19 had a significant impact on their social lives reported higher levels of loneliness, but if they walked their dog at least once a day, they did not become lonelier despite the social consequences of the pandemic. We conclude that dog walking could be a beneficial therapy in relation to loneliness for individuals who experience significant social setbacks. Further research is needed to determine why dog walking is beneficial, and whether individuals only obtain these benefits when walking their own dog, or if they can also experience benefits when walking with other people’s dogs. ABSTRACT: Pet ownership can provide important companionship and facilitate social connections, which may be particularly important to socially isolated older adults. Given the significant deleterious impact of loneliness on health and wellbeing in later life, many predicted that public safety measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic would greatly increase loneliness, particularly among vulnerable populations like older adults. We investigated whether dog walking buffers loneliness in the context of stressors imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Longitudinal survey data were obtained from a Florida community-based sample of adults (n = 466) aged 60+ years old in September 2018 and October 2020. Using OLS regression models, we tested: a) the association between the social consequences of COVID-19 and changes in loneliness, and b) the buffering effect of dog walking on this relationship. The high social consequences of COVID-19 were related to increases in loneliness. Walking a dog daily buffered the relationship. These results suggest potential therapeutic effects of dog walking for the promotion of mental health in older adults, particularly in the context of stressful situations that accentuate risks for loneliness.