Managing a Pet’s Chronic Illness: Factors that Influence Psychosocial Adjustment

The aim of this research was to examine the influence of various intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors on the psychological adjustment of people who were managing chronic illnesses in their pets. These factors, which included illness parameters, cognitive appraisal, locus of control, social support, and demographic characteristics, comprised a theoretical model of variables presumed to influence the caregiver’s adjustment in terms of depression and anxiety. While the results of a path analysis provided mixed support for the hypothesized relationships in the model, the results of Rasch analyses indicated the need to refine the measures of several constructs in the model.