The role of mindfulness in the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain in children and adolescents.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in Canada. Evidence suggests that physical fitness is the best predictor of mortality for CHD patients. Despite increased focus on interventions to promote physical activity (PA) in this population, CHD patients remain less physically active than their age-matched peers. It is therefore important that researchers identify relevant predictors of PA for CHD patients that can be targeted to improve these interventions. With this goal in mind, this study will examine the association between dog ownership and PA in CHD patients. Previous research with healthy adult and elderly populations has found that dog owners have higher levels of PA, and that characteristics of the dog (e.g., age, breed, size) and the dog/owner relationship (e.g., attachment, responsibility for the dog) moderate this association. Despite the finding that owning a dog decreases the risk of mortality for CHD patients, no research has examined the relationship between dog ownership and PA in this population. The proposed study will follow over 700 patients with CHD throughout the Atlantic Provinces. Participants will fill out questionnaires at baseline (following admittance to a hospital for a coronary event or enrollment in a CR program), 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. These questionnaires contain measures of dog ownership, characteristics of the dog, characteristics of the dog/owner relationship, and PA levels. Growth curve modeling will be used to examine whether dog ownership predicts change in PA levels over time. In addition, the role of dog characteristics, and characteristics of the dog/owner relationship will be examined. This project has the potential to improve the health of individuals with chronic disease, as it will be the first to examine the influence of dog ownership on PA levels in a chronic disease population. It may also inform the development of PA interventions with specialized components for CHD patients who own dogs.