The Relationship Between Emotional Regulation and Mental Health with Pets Ownership
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Objective: This study aimed to examine emotion regulation and mental health among pet owners and non-pet owners, compare these variables by gender and age, and investigate the extent to which emotion regulation predicts mental health among pet owners.
Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 218 adults recruited from veterinary clinics, shopping malls, and social media in Amman, Jordan. The sample comprised 80 pet owners and 138 non-pet owners. Emotion regulation was assessed with the Arabic Emotion Regulation Scale (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and mental health with the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), which covers psychosomatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent-samples t tests, one-way ANOVA, and simple linear regression with p≤0.05.
Findings: Pet owners showed significantly higher mean scores for emotion regulation and better mental health than non-owners across all GHQ-28 dimensions (p < 0.001). Among pet owners, women reported higher overall emotion regulation and cognitive reappraisal than men, whereas men showed higher expressive suppression. Women also had better total mental health and social functioning scores. Age differences appeared in psychosomatic complaints and social functioning, favouring adults aged 20–40 years. In pet owners, emotion regulation significantly predicted mental health and explained about 47% of its variance (R² ≈ 0.47, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Pet ownership is associated with better emotion regulation and mental health, especially among women and younger adults. Emotion regulation is an important predictor of mental health in pet owners.
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