For the Love of Dogs (For the Love Of...(Health Communications))
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These mixed findings may be explained by different populations and measurement tools. We found no significant difference in attachment scores between low, medium, or high family affluence, which is consistent with previous findings that also found no difference [ 37 ], although Westgarth et al. However, the internal reliability of the Family Affluence Scale used in this study was low and results should be interpreted with caution.
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This measure is widely used in child health research and has been developed specifically as a child and adolescent self-report research tool. We also found no significant difference in attachment to pets between younger and older children, however, research with adolescents shows that attachment to pets decreases between 11 and 15 years of age [ 37 ]. It may therefore be worth investigating attachment to pets in a wider age range in the future. We did find, however, that older children scored higher on caring behaviour, possibly due to increased responsibility for pet care within the home [ 27 ].
Our findings show that children with pets or who had pets in their past scored higher on all attachment items than children without pets or those who had never had a pet. For example, children view pets as confidantes for secrets, demonstrating this emotional connection [ 69 ]. Although pet ownership alone is important, it seems to be that having a pet that a child feels is their own has the most influence, as we found that children with their own pet scored higher on pet attachment.
This finding supports the argument that a close relationship and emotional bond is more important than merely the presence of a pet within a home [ 82 ], possibly due to increased direct involvement and responsibility for the care of their pet, thus facilitating attachment. In relation to pet type, we found that the type of pet that a child has influenced the degree of child-pet attachment. Children with pet dogs scored the highest on attachment, which makes sense given children demonstrate high attachment to dogs, view dogs as attachment figures, and have more direct contact with dogs inside and outside of the home [ 63 , 71 ].
Dogs are also more likely to read and adapt their behaviour in response to human emotional signals [ 88 ]. Pet dogs and cats were the only significant predictors of child-pet attachment. The finding that higher attachment is shown for dogs and cats is consistent with previous research in adults [ 89 ] and children [ 83 ] and may be explained by the wider range of behaviours that can be displayed between children and their pet dog or cat compared to other animals.
Dogs and cats may also be more receptive to our emotions and express their emotions and behaviour more clearly than other pet animals, facilitating a closer connection or bond. However, most attachment research uses measures that are based on direct interactions with pet dogs e. This was a large-scale questionnaire study using self-report data and thus might be subject to response biases such as social desirability, potential peer influence, and demand characteristics.
Although we did not measure behaviour directly there is a strong evidence base for the link between attitudes and behaviour [ 90 ]. Self-report questionnaire methods are a tried and tested approach for children of this age range, but it is possible that a minority of the younger children included in the sample may have needed some teacher support in completing the questionnaire provided as part of the data collection procedure.
However, only two children were under the age of 7 years and teachers were instructed to help children only with reading items and were discouraged from interpreting items or suggesting answers to minimise teacher effects. Future research would benefit from using a combination of self-reports, parent reports, observational, and behavioural methods to allow data triangulation and ensure accuracy of findings. There are also some limitations with the measures used in this research.
The SAPS, used to measure pet attachment, was highly reliable within our sample and in those which validated its use [ 37 , 39 , 62 ] and is a short measure of attachment developed for use in large survey research. Other aspects of attachment relationships e. To enable all children to answer the SAPS they could answer about a pet they had or a hypothetical pet this could be a pet they used to have or one owned by a relative.
Our research indicates differences in attachment between children who currently have pets and those who do not. Further analysis could explore in more depth differences in pet attachment between current pet owners and those who currently do not have a pet, but perhaps have had a pet previously, wish to own a pet, or have a strong connection to a pet owned by someone else relative, friend, or neighbour. It would also be interesting to look at differences between how children respond to the items within SAPS in relation to different pets e.
It would be interesting to use this measure in samples outside the UK to examine its cross-cultural reliability and to complement SAPS with other measures of pet attachment using mixed methods approaches. Although research on attachment to pets is expanding, there are still inconsistent results [ 92 ] which may be due to the use of different measures of attachment. Developing and refining age-appropriate measures for child-animal interaction research remains a priority for research.
Several studies have found a link between pet ownership particularly dogs and cats , pet attachment, positive attitudes to animals, compassion, empathy, and prosocial behaviour [ 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. Attachment to pets is therefore important for facilitating positive attitudes towards animals see Figure 1. Although we used a diverse sample from across Scotland that included a variety of ethnicities and religions we did not include measures of ethnicity, religion, or cultural background, which have been shown to influence human-animal interactions [ 85 ]. Relations between Pet Care, Pet Attachment, Compassion, and Attitudes to Pets Regression analyses were conducted to establish whether there were associations between scores for attachment to pets and caring behaviour, friendship behaviour, compassion, and attitudes. Lost and found dog advice Lost and found cat advice Dog care advice Cat care advice. However, most attachment research uses measures that are based on direct interactions with pet dogs e.
In a short survey it is not possible to capture data on all variables of potential interest. In this study we did not consider family dynamics such as dual or single-parent families and sibling status, which could have influenced attachment scores children in single parent families and youngest children show greater attachment to their pets [ 63 , 93 ]. Although we used a diverse sample from across Scotland that included a variety of ethnicities and religions we did not include measures of ethnicity, religion, or cultural background, which have been shown to influence human-animal interactions [ 85 ].
Although causation cannot be inferred from cross-sectional data, the strong statistical associations between pet attachment and caring behaviour found here suggest that encouraging children to participate in pet care behaviour may have a range of positive outcomes for both children such as better well-being, quality of life and pets such as better welfare and humane treatment. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of childhood attachment to pets, but further research is required to examine how and when children form attachments to animals and how we might promote positive attachment to pets.
We thank the schools, children, parents, and teachers who were involved for their invaluable time and collaboration. Roxanne Hawkins prepared and analysed the data, and led the writing of this paper. Williams designed the study, developed the questionnaire, and co-wrote the paper. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Published online May 6. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.
Received Mar 6; Accepted Apr This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY license http: Introduction This study focuses on the under-researched topic of childhood attachment to pets. Human Attachment and Attachment to Pets Children are biologically pre-programmed to form emotional attachments with human caregivers to enable their survival [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Direct Contact with Animals and Attachment to Pets Direct contact with animals during childhood, such as caring for pets, may foster the development of attachment to pets.
The Present Study Recent research has highlighted the lack of studies into childhood attachment to pets. This study considers four research questions: Are there socio-demographic differences in childhood attachment to pets? Materials and Methods 2. Open in a separate window. Procedure All children completed the questionnaire within their school classroom approximately 15 min to complete. Descriptive Statistics The majority of children displayed high attachment to their pets, or would if they had pets, with Table 3 Descriptive statistics for socio-demographic variables.
Table 4 Results from t -tests examining differences in attachment scores for pet ownership. Pet Type and Attachment to Pet Scores Descriptive statistics Table 4 shows that children with dogs scored the highest on attachment, followed by cats, small mammals, other e. Relations between Pet Care, Pet Attachment, Compassion, and Attitudes to Pets Regression analyses were conducted to establish whether there were associations between scores for attachment to pets and caring behaviour, friendship behaviour, compassion, and attitudes. Table 5 Results from regression analysis for attachment to pets.
Discussion The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between childhood attachment to pets, pet care, compassion to animals, and attitudes towards animals. Limitations and Future Directions This was a large-scale questionnaire study using self-report data and thus might be subject to response biases such as social desirability, potential peer influence, and demand characteristics.
Acknowledgments We thank the schools, children, parents, and teachers who were involved for their invaluable time and collaboration. Author Contributions Roxanne Hawkins prepared and analysed the data, and led the writing of this paper. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. An Object-Relations Theory of the Personality. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Mind-mindedness as a multidimensional construct: Appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments independently predict infant—mother attachment in a socially diverse sample.
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