Impact of Communication with Pets on Human Well-being: Insights from AURAL-Pet Study

Research Overview

Several studies have suggested that pets may positively influence human health. However, research from the University of Arizona indicates that how owners communicate with their pets might also affect well-being. The team has introduced a system named AURAL-Pet to analyze conversations between humans and pets. This research was featured in Frontiers in Psychiatry on August 4.

Dara Jonkoski, a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona’s Department of Psychology, emphasized the importance of diverse human-pet interaction styles. She stated that identifying interactions linked to better well-being outcomes can guide pet owners in enhancing their communications with cats and dogs to potentially boost well-being.

Study Findings

Researchers applied AURAL-Pet to 5,072 audio recordings involving pet-related conversations. A total of 240 participants contributed to the study. The findings confirmed the reliability of the coding system for future research on human-pet interactions.

Jonkoski described AURAL-Pet as a method to convert daily audio recordings into measurable data about human-pet relationships. She noted that the system captures interaction characteristics by analyzing these recordings. Common topics included owners narrating personal thoughts, describing pets’ actions, or discussing general subjects.

Professor Megan Mueller from Tufts University highlighted AURAL-Pet’s significance as a research tool. She mentioned that the way individuals communicate with pets offers insights into their perception of these relationships and potential benefits. Analyzing everyday interactions provides valuable information on these dynamics.

Implications for Human-Pet Interactions

Jonkoski explained that the coding system involves 30 variables depicting various human-pet interaction behaviors. These include walking with pets, using baby-talk, and speaking to pets akin to human confidantes.

The system, however, does not enable dialogue with pets. Instead, it quantifies existing human-pet interactions, ranging from ordinary to complex.

AURAL-Pet is now applied to another study—C.A.R.E.—conducted by associate professors at the University of Arizona’s Department of Psychology. This project gathers mental health and well-being data from individuals over 60. The coding system might further elucidate how pet interactions impact the elderly’s well-being.

Jonkoski revealed ongoing research objectives using this dataset, such as determining the correlation between positive pet interactions and human mental health outcomes.

Reference

Jonkoski, D. S., et al. (2026). Cross-species conversations: development of the AURAL-Pet coding system for daily pet-related communication analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry. Retrieved from Frontiers in Psychiatry.

For inquiries regarding this story, contact Newsweek editors Kara Dolman and Emma Lee-Sang.