Table 3.
Covariate associations with cumulative dog exposure for parents and youth who completed follow-up interview 8 years after the baseline study
| Covariate | Total | Spearman Correlation Coefficient for Cumulative Dog Exposure | t-statistic (*F-value) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YOUTH | ||||
| # | 241b | |||
| Mean (SD) youth age in years | 14.82 (2.29) | 0.077 | -- | 0.2550 |
| % male | 55.51 | 0.69 | 0.4903 | |
| Mean (SD) of children in the home | 2.23 (1.63) | -0.041 | -- | 0.5302 |
| Mean (SD) Birth order of index child | 1.69 (1.08) | 0.147 | -- | 0.0313 |
| % full time live with parent | 94.17 | 2.02 | 0.0616 | |
| % with public insurance | 38.01 | -2.43 | 0.0159 | |
| % teens who have asthma or allergies | 27.66 | 2.29 | 0.0238 | |
| % teens who ever had a bad experience with dog or cat | 11.49 | 0.53 | 0.6025 | |
| % Pet dog at T1 a | 61.22 | 8.92 | < 0.0001 | |
| Mean (SD) SCARED41 score at follow-up | 19.50 (16.19) | 0.042 | -- | 0.5206 |
| Mean (SD) PHQ8 score at follow-up | 4.00 (5.16) | -0.021 | -- | 0.7491 |
| Mean (SD) MSPSS score at follow-up | 70.00 (13.62) | -0.056 | -- | 0.3875 |
| Mean (SD) ACE-Q score at follow-up | 1.11 (1.41) | -0.023 | -- | 0.7288 |
| PARENT or GUARDIAN | ||||
| Mean (SD) parent age in years | 43.40 (6.74) | 0.003 | -- | 0.9680 |
| % mothers | 91.29 | 1.40 | 0.1761 | |
| % married and living together | 70.95 | 1.53 | 0.1278 | |
| % who had a dog or cat growing up (Always/Usually) | 80.08 | 1.26* | 0.2857 | |
| % working full timec | 66.39 | 0.48* | 0.6204 | |
| % some college education or higher | 80.91 | -1.56 | 0.1235 | |
| % rating their own health as excellent or very good | 67.22 | 0.22 | 0.8285 | |
| % Hispanic or Latino | 1.70 | -1.69 | 0.1847 | |
| % white | 96.27 | 0.09 | 0.9329 | |
| % Annual household income > FPL for 4-person household d | 94.19 | 2.27* | 0.0489 | |
| % live in a house | 87.97 | -0.73 | 0.4721 | |
| % live in a city or near urban area | 1.24 | -1.57 | 0.2503 | |
| % with family history of mental illness | 29.77 | 1.08 | 0.2810 | |
| % with autism in family member | 13.16 | 1.19 | 0.2432 | |
| Mean (SD) PHQ8 score at follow-up | 3.00 (4.46) | 0.079 | -- | 0.2211 |
| Summary Statistics | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Range | |
| Cumulative Dog Exposure |
91.65 (78.96) |
87.49 (15.38-149.85) | 0-316.28 | |
| Cumulative Cat Exposure | 74.57 (102.23) |
27.31 (0-119.16) |
0-684.37 | |
aexcludes all outdoor housed dog and cats. b 241 is the total number of subjects who completed phone follow up. 19 were excluded from MH models due to MH diagnosis at baseline and 2 excluded due to missing baseline SCARED5. c Asked during COVID-19 pandemic so may not be representative of pre-pandemic conditions. d The lowest income category used was the cutoff for federal poverty level (FPL) for a 4 person household (0–26,200).The F-statistic and p-value relate to the association of dog exposure with the full range of income levels (not just dichotomous +/- FPL).
*F-values presented for variables with more than two levels