Does the Company of a Dog Influence Affective Response to Exercise? Using Ecological Momentary Assessment to Study Dog-Accompanied Physical Activity.
OBJECTIVE
This study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA), a real-time self-report strategy, to examine (1) whether dog owners were more likely to be physically active when they were with their dogs and (2) whether being with a dog amplifies positive and dampens negative affective response during physical activity.


METHODS
Electronic EMA surveys for 12 days.


METHODS
Free-living.


METHODS
Seventy-one adult dog owners.


METHODS
The EMA survey included 1 question about current activity, 3 questions about positive affect (Cronbach α = .837), 4 questions about negative affect (Cronbach α = .865), and 1 question about the presence of dog.


METHODS
Multilevel modeling.


RESULTS
The company of a dog did not increase the likelihood of being active versus sedentary at any given EMA prompt. However, greater positive affect during physical activity was reported in the company of a dog. Negative affect did not differ between active and sedentary activity, regardless of being with a dog or not.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the utility of electronic EMA as a promising methodology to study dog-accompanied physical activity. Future studies may use EMA to collect further contextual information about dog-accompanied activity to inform the development of innovative physical activity interventions.
1 Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Yue
Y
Liao
2 USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Olga
O
Solomon
3 Department of Preventive Medicine, Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Genevieve F
GF
Dunton
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
affect; dog ownership; ecological momentary assessment; physical activity