Can dogs make you more active?
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Are dog owners more active when they are with their dogs? What do people do when with their dogs in their daily lives? When with their dogs, do people's feelings differ between active vs. sedentary behaviors? To find these answers, dive in! This study used a novel methodology to examine dog owners behaviors and feeling states in real-time, real life. This study is published in the American Journal of Health Promotion (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117116666947).
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Can dogs make you more active?
- 1. Does the Company of a Dog Influence Affective Response to Exercise? An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study Yue Liao, MPH, CPH Genevieve F. Dunton, PhD, MPH ISBNPA 2014 Invited PhD Lecture May 22, 2014
- 2. Dog Ownership 36.50% 35% 25% United States Canada European Union Percent Household with a Dog, by Region, 2011-2012 Sources: AVMA, CVMA, FEDIAF
- 3. Source: WSPA International 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Venezuela Indonesia India Argentina Japan Finland Turkey Morocco Vietnam Thailand Dog Population Change between 2003-2008, Top 10 Countries
- 4. Dog Ownership & Health Benefits Physical health Owning a dog encourages more physical activity Mental and emotional health Lower psychological stress and depression Alleviate anxiety Beck & Meyers, 1996; Cutt, Giles-Corti, Knuiman, & Burke, 2007
- 5. Research Gaps Little is known about what people do and how people feel when they are with their dogs in everyday life Do dog owners actually exercise with their dogs? Does being with a dog increase the likelihood of being physically active? When with their dogs, do people’s affective states differ between active vs. non-active behaviors?
- 6. Current Study Used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) via mobile phones to capture behaviors, affective states, and type of company in real-time, real life Electronic surveys were delivered at random intervals up to 8 times each day for a total of 12 days (3 waves of data)
- 8. Participants 117 inactive, middle-low income adults from Southern California (Project MOBILE) Current study only included participants who reported being with a dog at least once during the entire assessment period N=71 76% female Average age = 40.2 65% Hispanic
- 9. Statistical Methods Multilevel models were fit to control for clustering within individuals Type of behavior was recoded to either being active or sedentary All models controlled for age, gender, and ethnicity All analyses were conducted using SUDAAN 11.0.1
- 10. Results Of all the answered EMA responses (n=4,971), 12.9% (n=639) reported being with a dog Watching TV 30% Reading/Comp uter 18% Cooking/Chor es 17% Eating/Drinkin g 16% Exercising 9% Talking/On the phone 6% Childcare/Help ing children 4%
- 11. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Active Sedentary PredictedMarginalProbabilityof BeingActive(vs.Sedentary) Type of Behavior Predicted by Company of a Dog With a Dog Not with a Dog F=1.82, DF=1, p=.18
- 12. 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 With a Dog Not with a Dog PredictedMarginalMeanforPositive Affect Positve Affect Predicted by Type of Behavior and Company of a Dog Active Sedentary F=19.58, DF=1, p<.01 F=1.75, DF=1, p=.19
- 13. F=.43, DF=1, p=.52F=.34, DF=1, p=.56 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 With a Dog Not with a Dog PredictedMarginalMeanforNegative Affect Negative Affect Predicted by Type of Behavior and Company of a Dog Active Sedentary
- 14. Conclusions Dog owners were not more likely to be physically active when with their dogs However, when with their dogs, dog owners experienced greater positive affective state when being physically active as compared to when being sedentary
- 15. Limitations Definition of “dog owner” Did not examine dog breed Self-report of activity type Results might be confounded with other types of social and physical context Limited number of days of assessment
- 16. Future Directions Future research could investigate further in intensity, duration, and type of physical activity new dog owners’ change in behaviors Intervention implications positive reinforcement
- 17. Acknowledgements Study participants! Funding agency: American Cancer Society 118283- MRSGT-10-012-01-CPPB (Dunton, P. I) EMA programmer: Jennifer Beaudin, S. M. of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Project staff: Keito Kawabata Cesar Aranguri
Editor's Notes
- It is estimated that about 24-37% of the households from the developed countries own a dog.
- From this graph, we can also see that the dog population increased by a large percentage in many Asian and Latin American countries.
- Therefore, dog is an important component in many people’s daily lives. Previous research have suggested that owning a dog is associated with various health benefits. For example, dog owners experience improved physical health such as lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels because it is believed that owning a dog could encourage more physical activity, such as through dog walking. Dog owners also have better mental and emotional health. Previous studies found that owning a dog not only provides opportunity for interactions with their dogs, but also encourages more social contact with other people, which lead to lower psychological stress and depression. Owning a dog is also believed to alleviate anxiety by providing owners a sense of security and opportunity for fun, play, and relaxation.
- However, little is known about what type of behaviors dog owners perform with their dogs in everyday lives. For example… Traditional methodology, such as recall-based surveys limits the ability to examine whether the company of a dog influences concurrent activity levels and affective states.
- The current study aimed to answer the above questions by using ecological momentary assessment via mobile phones to capture behaviors, affective states, and type of company in real-time, real-life. Electronic surveys were delivered at random intervals, between 6:30 am and 10 pm, up to 8 times each day, Saturday through Tuesday. Data was collected across 3 waves, spacing 6 months apart. Each electronic survey assessed current activity type, affective states, and whether they are with a dog.
- Here are the screenshots for the EMA survey items. We asked about people’s current behavior. We also asked how they were feeling at that moment: Positive affect was assessed through 3 items: happy, cheerful, and relaxed Negative affect was assessed through 4 items: stressed, angry, anxious, and depressed Lastly, we have one question asking whether they were with a pet dog at the moment of answering the EMA survey.
- A longitudinal study investigating effects of environmental and intrapersonal factors on health behavior decision-making processes (Baseline data collected in 2011. All data were collected during Spring and Fall.) Dog owners and non-owners are not different in terms of age, gender, or ethnicity. Dog owners: 32% normal weight, 34% overweight, 34% obese Dog owners, heavier BMI （29 vs. 26), but not significant difference in BMI categories.
- Active: “Physical Activity/Exercise” or “Jogging/Running”. Sedentary: “Reading/Computer”, “Watching TV/Movies”, “Sitting”. Does being with a dog increase the likelihood of being physically active? Model 1: type of behaviors predicted by the company of dog When with their dogs, do people’s affective states differ between active vs. non-active behaviors? Model 2s: when with a dog, affective state predicted by being active vs. non-active Model 3s: when not with a dog, affective state predicted by being active vs. non-active
- All EMA responses: n=9,436; answered 82%; 51% walking All dog owner EMA responses: n=6,025; answered 82.5%; 42% walking Able to capture a wide range of daily activities. For all participants: 44.4% sedentary 11.6% eating/drinking 7.9% cooking 7.8% exercising 6% talking/on the phone 4.6% childcare
- The company of a dog did not increase the likelihood of exercising versus sedentary activity at any given EMA prompt
- When with a dog, participants reported more positive affect when being physically active than when not being physically active (p<.01). However, when not with a dog, positive affect did not differ between exercise and sedentary activity.
- Negative affect did not differ between physical activity vs. non physical activity prompts, regardless of being with a dog or not.
- In contrast, positive affect did not differ between active and sedentary behavior when owners were not with their dogs
- Did not specify “your dog” – could be somebody else’s dog Combined multiple waves of data, temporal sequence of dog ownership was not clear – i.e., a person could get a dog at later waves Only 12 days of assessment, may not be generalizable, only 9% PA episodes, n=48 EMA Only captured the current behavior, affective state, and company with dog. What happened before the prompt was not clear. small number of affective items for NA PA constructs, which may reduce reliability missing prompts, might be systematically missing, generalizability (e.g., time of day)
- In addition to address the limitations noted earlier, future research could also investigate further in how being with a dog might influence people’s intensity, duration, and type of physical activity. Study could also examine whether people’s behavior change after getting a dog, to see how owning a dog might change people’s lifestyle. Future interventions could encourage dog owners to exercise with their dogs to receive greater mental health benefits making positive reinforcement -> increase likelihood of doing it again