Differences before and after COVID-19

Researchers at University of Tsukuba examined how dog ownership and exercise self-efficacy affected physical activity among Japanese office workers before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings published in the journal Discover Public Health show that dog owners exhibited a significant decline in physical activity during the pandemic but returned to prepandemic levels afterward. Across all time points, exercise self-efficacy remained a strong predictor of physical activity.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a widespread decline in physical activity. To explore this trend, the researchers conducted a web-based survey to examine the influence of dog ownership and exercise self-efficacy on physical activity among Japanese office workers during restrictions related to the pandemic.

A total of 414 (including those from 124 dog owners) responses were analyzed. Data on physical activity, which was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, exercise self-efficacy, and dog-walking habits were obtained using the recall method at three time points: before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results revealed that dog owners exhibited a significant decline in physical activity during the pandemic but returned to prepandemic levels afterward. However, non-dog owners displayed no significant changes across the three time points. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, dog ownership was associated with high levels of exercise self-efficacy, which consequently predicted greater physical activity.

However, during and after the pandemic, dog ownership no longer influenced exercise self-efficacy; instead, only exercise self-efficacy remained a strong predictor of physical activity.

Among dog owners, dog-walking time remained relatively stable across all time points, suggesting that self-efficacy for dog walking in maintaining this routine sustained physical activity even under restrictive conditions.

These findings highlight the role of pet ownership in enhancing exercise self-efficacy and may inform the development of programs for promoting physical activity, particularly during periods of environmental or social restriction.