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Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral problems are a major source of poor welfare and premature mortality in companion dogs. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between owners' personality and psychological status and the prevalence and/or severity of their dogs' behavior problems. However, the mechanisms responsible for these associations are currently unknown. Other studies have detected links between the tendency of dogs to display behavior problems and their owners' use of aversive or confrontational training methods. This raises the possibility that the effects of owner personality and psychological status on dog behavior are mediated via their influence on the owner's choice of training methods. We investigated this hypothesis in a self-selected, convenience sample of 1564 current dog owners using an online battery of questionnaires designed to measure, respectively, owner personality, depression, emotion regulation, use of aversive/confrontational training methods, and owner-reported dog behavior. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses identified modest, positive associations between owners' use of aversive/confrontational training methods and the prevalence/severity of the following dog behavior problems: owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed aggression, separation problems, chasing, persistent barking, and house-soiling (urination and defecation when left alone). The regression models also detected modest associations between owners' low scores on four of the 'Big Five' personality dimensions (Agreeableness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion & Conscientiousness) and their dogs' tendency to display higher rates of owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed fear, and/or urination when left alone. The study found only weak evidence to support the hypothesis that these relationships between owner personality and dog behavior were mediated via the owners' use of punitive training methods, but it did detect a more than five-fold increase in the use of aversive/confrontational training techniques among men with moderate depression. Further research is needed to clarify the causal relationship between owner personality and psychological status and the behavioral problems of companion dogs.

SUBMITTER: Dodman NH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5812720 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems.

Dodman Nicholas H NH Brown Dorothy C DC Serpell James A JA

PloS one 20180214 2

Behavioral problems are a major source of poor welfare and premature mortality in companion dogs. Previous studies have demonstrated associations between owners' personality and psychological status and the prevalence and/or severity of their dogs' behavior problems. However, the mechanisms responsible for these associations are currently unknown. Other studies have detected links between the tendency of dogs to display behavior problems and their owners' use of aversive or confrontational train ...[more]

PMID: 29444154

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Project description:IntroductionInternet addiction (IA) is becoming a significant public health issue that requires urgent attention, especially for adolescents. Previous studies mainly focused on the risk factors of Internet addiction and drawn some conclusions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Internet addiction status and concurrent psychological problems in adolescent groups, and explore the differences in the relationship between IA and psychological problems in adolescents from gender and grade.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among students of junior and senior high school in 21 prefecture-level cities of Guangdong Province. The Young Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ) and the validated Chinese version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used to assess participants' Internet addiction and psychological status. Two-way ANOVA was used to verify the interaction between gender and Internet addiction, grade and Internet addiction on psychological problems. When the interaction was statistically significant, simple effect analysis was further carried out.ResultsThe prevalence of problematic Internet use (PIU), depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among adolescents were 16.32%, 30.16%, 35.97% and 18.80% respectively. Although the prevalence of PIU among boys (17.89%) was higher than that of girls (14.86%), girls in PIU group had the highest scores of depression, anxiety and stress. Similarly, the interaction between grade and Internet addiction was also significant (p < 0.05). Although the prevalence of PIU was the highest in grade 9 (17.29%), the adverse effects of Internet addiction on psychological problems were different in different grades.DiscussionInternet addiction was prevalent among adolescents in Guangdong province, and psychological problems also cannot be ignored. Thus, this study suggests that long-term follow-ups should be included in mental health programs of adolescents to monitor the development of Internet addiction and psychological problems.

Dataset Information

Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems.

Publications

Associations between owner personality and psychological status and the prevalence of canine behavior problems.

Similar Datasets

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