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From: Stressful Life Events and Use of Physician Services Among the Elderly: The Moderating Role of Pet Ownership. Siegel JM. 1990. J of Personality & Social Psychology, 58(6):1081-1086. The physician utilization of 938 Medicare enrollees in a health maintenance organization was prospectively followed for 1 year. When demographic characteristics and health status at baseline were controlled for, pet owners reported fewer doctor contacts over the 1-year period than non-pet owners. Furthermore, pets seemed to especially help their owners in times of stress. The accumulation of prebaseline stressful life events was associated with increased doctor contacts during the study year for respondents without pets, but not for for pet owners. *Stressful life events included: separation or divorce, death of close family member, major illness of spouse, job retirement, death of close friend, move, being victim of crime, and money problems.