Dog Tired: A Cross-Sectional Examination of the Relation Between Dog and/or Cat Ownership and Owners' Sleep

Many behaviours which promote sleep overlap with the reported benefits of pet ownership. Research on pet ownership and sleep has predominately focused on co-sleeping with pets, leaving other pet ownership factors largely unexamined. The present study aimed to examine the relation between pet ownership and sleep as well as moderators and mediators of this relation. Participants (N = 1256; 80.8% White; 50.5% men) residing in the United States completed an online survey which included assessment of sleep disturbances, physical activity, perceived stress, anxiety symptoms, and light exposure. Participants were categorised into one of four pet ownership groups: non-pet owners, cat-only owners, dog-only owners, and owners of both a dog and cat. Data analyses included analysis of covariance, moderation, parallel mediation, and conditional process modelling. Key findings included that pet ownership was significantly related to sleep, with non-pet owners sleeping worse than pet owners. Those that owned both a dog and cat reported the best sleep of all four pet ownership groups. The relation between pet ownership and sleep did not vary by gender. The relation was significantly mediated by anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, light exposure, and sleep-wake timing. Anxiety symptoms and perceived stress were the most robust mediators of the relation between pet ownership and sleep. Walking regularity did not moderate these effects. These pre-clinical findings provide a foundation for future research examining how the integration of pet ownership and sleep-promoting behaviours can improve adherence to sleep health recommendations, thus improving owners' sleep.