Table 2.
Evaluating the Buffering Effects of Dog Walking on the Social Consequences of COVID-19, Predicting Change in Loneliness Pre-COVID-19 relative to Six Months into COVID-19.
| Model 1 | Model 2 | Model 3 | Model 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beta (Robust SE) | Beta (Robust SE) | Beta (Robust SE) | Beta (Robust SE) | |
| Loneliness (Baseline)—Standardized | 0.585 *** | 0.583 *** | 0.522 *** | −0.482 *** |
| (0.0500) | (0.0495) | (0.0539) | (0.0540) | |
| Social Impact of COVID | 0.192 *** | 0.196 *** | 0.187 *** | 0.225 *** |
| (0.0386) | (0.0379) | (0.0392) | (0.0448) | |
| Frequency of Dog Walking | −0.0270 | −0.0261 | 0.0561 | |
| (0.0289) | (0.0279) | (0.0437) | ||
| Frequency of Dog Walking X Social Impact of COVID | −0.0334 * | |||
| Control Measures | (0.0152) | |||
| Financial Impact of COVID | −0.0408 | −0.0445 | −0.0585 | −0.0653 |
| (0.0438) | (0.0436) | (0.0450) | (0.0442) | |
| Health Impact of COVID | −0.00426 | −0.0143 | −0.0110 | −0.0107 |
| (0.0393) | (0.0393) | (0.0389) | (0.0386) | |
| Impact of Stressful Societal Events | −0.0514 | −0.0555 | −0.0538 | −0.0625 |
| (0.0555) | (0.0551) | (0.0559) | (0.0560) | |
| Dog (Baseline) | 0.145 | 0.105 | 0.125 | |
| (0.146) | (0.153) | (0.154) | ||
| Dog (Time 2) | −0.114 | −0.105 | −0.117 | |
| (0.183) | (0.186) | (0.187) | ||
| Cat (Baseline) | 0.138 | 0.153 | 0.153 | |
| (0.130) | (0.117) | (0.116) | ||
| Cat (Time 2) | −0.0289 | −0.0581 | −0.0552 | |
| (0.132) | (0.117) | (0.116) | ||
| Minority | −0.0390 | −0.0276 | ||
| (0.141) | (0.142) | |||
| Educational Attainment | 0.0480 | 0.0533 | ||
| (0.0346) | (0.0343) | |||
| Age | −0.00353 | −0.00404 | ||
| (0.00662) | (0.00656) | |||
| Female | 0.126 | 0.130 | ||
| (0.0821) | (0.0813) | |||
| Married (Baseline) | 0.0241 | 0.0288 | ||
| (0.172) | (0.172) | |||
| Married (Time 2) | −0.227 | −0.237 | ||
| (0.170) | (0.170) | |||
| Employed (Baseline) | −0.0656 | −0.0724 | ||
| (0.103) | (0.104) | |||
| Employed (Time 2) | −0.0639 | −0.0569 | ||
| (0.116) | (0.116) | |||
| Self-Rated Health | −0.0276 | −0.0286 | ||
| (0.0459) | (0.0455) | |||
| Social Support, Friends (Baseline) | 0.0446 | 0.0404 | ||
| (0.0544) | (0.0544) | |||
| Social Support, Friends (Time 2) | −0.187 ** | −0.189 ** | ||
| (0.0579) | (0.0587) | |||
| Social Hassles, Friends (Baseline) | 0.0539 | 0.0571 | ||
| (0.0821) | (0.0824) | |||
| Social Hassles, Friends (Time 2) | 0.109 | 0.105 | ||
| (0.107) | (0.111) | |||
| Friend Loss | 0.111 | 0.107 | ||
| (0.100) | (0.0994) | |||
| Constant | −0.333 * | −0.324 * | 0.194 | 0.158 |
| (0.153) | (0.155) | (0.663) | (0.654) | |
| R-squared | 0.422 | 0.429 | 0.470 | 0.319 |
Note: N = 473; Robust standard errors in parentheses. Significance indicates: *** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05. Model 1 includes only COVID-19 related measures. Model 2 adds in the pet-related measures. Model 3 adds in all control measures. Model 4 adds in the moderating effect of dog-walking on the social impact of COVID.