Dog/Cat Owner relationship, stress and memory slips in everyday life

The purposes were to evaluate the relationship between stress and memory slips in everyday life; to compare scores between generational groups and to identify whether there is a beneficial effect of human-dog or human-cat relationships on memory slips. 640 people from Mexico participated; 368 own dogs, 188 cats, and 84 dogs and cats; 205 Gen Xers, 237 Millennials, and 198 Baby Boomers. The results showed a significant correlation between stress and memory; significant differences among generations for stress, memory slips and human-cat relationship. The Millennials generation had a higher stress score and a lower memory slips score. Generation X presented a better relationship with the cat and with the dog. The human-cat relationship showed negative and significant correlations with memory slips. When dividing by generations, it is identified that the correlation occurs exclusively for the Baby Boomer generation; A structural model confirmed that emotional closeness with the cat and perceived cost explain 31.7% of the variance of memory slips in Baby Boomer generation. The regression weights and the adjustment of the structural model support the idea that the relationship with the cat could have a protective effect on memory for the Baby Boomer generation.