Journal
AGING & MENTAL HEALTH
Volume 23, Issue 11, Pages 1452-1466Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1503999
Keywords
Companion animals; latent class analysis; Health and Retirement Study
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Funding
- GSA/WALTHAM Collaborative Research Award
- Gerontological Society of America
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Objectives: Research on the influence of companion animals (CA) on the health of older adults has yielded contradictory results. Selection factors, leading to heterogeneity both between and within groups of CA owners and non-owners, likely bias results. We conduct analyses to identify typologies of owners and non-owners. Methods: Using data on older adults (60+) from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and the HRS companion animal module, (owners = 478) and (non-owners = 624), we conducted latent class analyses (LCA). We used key demographic, health, daily engagement, and pet characteristic variables to complete our analyses. Results: Analyses revealed five clusters of CA owners and four clusters of non-owners. Health and CA related characteristics distinguishing clusters suggest important sources of variability and reflect qualitatively different profiles of owners and non-owners. We also found CA owners were more likely than non-owners to be high on neuroticism and to be less extroverted than non-owners-but again there was considerable within group variability.
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