Pet ownership, loneliness, and social isolation: a systematic review.
Benedikt KretzlerHans-Helmut KönigAndré HajekPublished in: Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology (2022)
All in all, only a part of the studies detected a significant association between pet ownership, loneliness and social isolation. However, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to strengthen this relationship, so that future research is required to assess the longevity of this potential effect.