Pet Effect on Children

The ‘pet effect’: What effect do pets have on children’s development and health? 2018 Children, adolescents and animals research group Welfare 5 Freedoms: Education: Child development: Health: Hunger & thirst Pedagogical approaches Concepts & understanding Physical health, Curriculum Attitudes NGO activities and materials Emotional attachments Discomfort Fear & distress Pain, disease & injury Exhibit natural behaviour Empathy Activity & exercise, Mental health, Animal-assisted interventions Children, adolescents and animals: Research areas Child Development and Health Empathy, compassion, attachment, international comparisons and mixed methods Psychological predicators and correlates Children and Animals Cruelty Risks and Prevention School-based, digital and animal-assisted interventions Animal-Assisted Interventions Evaluations of AAI for ASD and child mental health What is the ‘pet effect’? • Positive influence on physical and emotional health, development and wellbeing • Around 70% of UK children have pets • Part of the family • Part of daily activities • Under-researched! Evidence for the ‘pet effect’ • 22 key studies OUTCOME DESIGN Emotional Behavioural Cognitive Educational Social RCT Cohort Case-control Longitudinal Cross-sectional Qualitative 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Evidence for the ‘pet effect’ 9 Purewal, R., Christley, R., Kordas, K., Joinson, C., Meints, K., Gee, N. & Westgarth, C. (2017). Companion animals and child/adolescent development: A systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14, 234. 8 Number of studies 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Anxiety Depression Self-esteem POSITIVE EFFECT Loneliness Behavioural NO DIFFERENCE Cognitive Educational NEGATIVE EFFECT Social Edinburgh studies • Duty of care towards animals among children (2008-2012) – Qualitative research with children – Development of Short Attachment to Pets Scale (SAPS) • Duty of care towards animals among adolescents (2012-2017) – Incorporation of SAPS into the Scottish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study Key findings: quality of life • Strong attachment to pets (using the SAPS measure) associated with better quality of life and mental wellbeing – Owning a pet not as influential as being attached to a pet – Quality of relationship with pet influences mental health – Relationship is maintained across SES Marsa-Sambola, F., Muldoon, J., Williams, J., Lawrence, A., Connor, M. & Currie, C. (2016). The Short Attachment to Pets Scale (SAPS) for children and young people: Development, psychometric qualities and demographic and health associations. Child Indicators Research, 9(1), 111-131. Key findings: communication • Stronger attachment to pets is associated with better communication between adolescents, their parents and their best friend – Social facilitation – Shared emotional bond – Shared activities Is type of animal important? • Are benefits for social/emotional wellbeing evident regardless of the type of pet children are attached to? Measure Dog/s Small mammal/s Life Satisfaction √ √ Kidscreen mental health index √ √ Cat/s Fish/reptile/ amphibian/s √ General Health Questionnaire Confidence Happiness (frequency) √ Happiness (extent) √ Perceived health √ Feeling left out X Feeling lonely Ease of communication (father) √ √ Developmental trends Boys’ attachment to pets Girls’ attachment to pets Muldoon et al. (in press) Developmental trends Children with a dog/s Children with a cat/s Children with a small mammal/s (Muldoon et al., under review) Patterns of attachment • General weakening of attachment to pets with age • Girls report stronger attachment than boys • Relationships with dogs appear least susceptible to effects of age and gender and are more strongly associated with wellbeing • Emotional support aspects of attachment appear more salient to girls Muldoon, J.C., Williams, J.M., Lawrence, A. & Currie, C. (in press). The nature and psychological impact of child/adolescent attachment to dogs compared with other companion animals. Society & Animals. Muldoon, J.C., Williams, J.M. & Lawrence, A. (under review). Developmental changes in attachment to pets during the transition from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. Complications associated with the ‘pet effect’ • No ‘pet effect’: findings due to other factors – Herzog (2011) - Non-significant findings can be difficult to publish leading to publication bias in favour of finding pet effects • Negative ‘pet effect’ – Herzog (2011) many neighbourhood disputes are about pets (e.g. barking dogs) – Pets can add to daily hassles/stress levels - additional daily tasks, difficult to manage pet behaviour, situations and crisis times of day (meal times, bed times etc.) – Pets carry financial burden – SES & lone parenting linked to pet ownership; those with most resources are not always those who own most pets – Pets carry emotional burden – love and concern Negative pet effects (1) • Animal Fears and Phobias – Phobias are a common mid-childhood psychological disorder – Among 5-7 year-olds animals are one of the principal sources of fear and phobia (Carr, 2006) • • • • Persistent fear that is excessive or unreasonable Produces an anxiety response Phobic situations are avoided or cause anxiety and distress Some recognition that fear is not a reasonable response (depending on age) • Avoidance impacts daily functioning • Ongoing for at least 6 months • Range of psychological theories and treatments including: controlled exposure, relaxation, psychoeducation, monitoring fear and coping, modelling and reward systems Negative pet effects (2) • Allergies – Approximately 10-15% people allergic to pets, cat allergies more common than dog allergies – 10% of families in one study re-homed their pet due to childhood allergies and 27% showed avoidance behaviours: “Healthy pet-keeping effect” (Bornehag et al., 2003) – Childhood exposure to pet can be protective of asthma and hay fever (e.g. Shargorodsky et al., 2017) Negative pet effects (3) • Experience of/witnessing animal cruelty – Social learning theory (Bandura, 1961; 2007) indicates that children model or copy behaviour they have witnessed – Engaging in or witnessing negative behaviour towards animals has a detrimental effect on child and animal • With any intervention, these factors (fears/phobia/dislike of animals, allergies & experience of animal cruelty) need to be taken into consideration Pet effect mechanisms (1) • Social facilitator, stimulation of social behaviour, and company – Pets form connections between people by bringing people into contact (e.g. dog ownership) – Pets are a point of shared communication and activities thereby enhancing human relationships – Pets are company for people who are isolated or alone • Emotional attachment – Strong emotional attachment or bond to another, safe base behaviour, source of comfort – Oxytocin ‘love hormone’ increases when we interact with those we love, including animals Pet effect mechanisms (2) • Increases in positive mood – Range of studies show increased positive mood during and following interactions with animals (Beetz et al., 2012) • Anxiety and stress reduction – Stroking animals has a calming effect, helping to reduce stress and anxiety – Studies of children in medical settings show reduction in anxiety in the presence of animals – Animals can reduce cortisol levels, ‘stress hormone’ (Beetz et al., 2012) – Animals can have positive impact on blood pressure responses to mental stress (Allen et al., 2001) Pet effect mechanisms (3) • Physical Activity Levels – Pet ownership can lead to increased activity levels (e.g. dog walking), which affect health • Other possible mechanisms – Increases mindfulness? – Increases connectedness with nature and the natural environment? • Direct and indirect effects, moderation effects, complex interactions – research ongoing! Significance of context Child-animal interactions do not occur in isolation: • • • • • The family environment Moving between homes The school environment Community settings Society & public understanding Summing up • Pets are an important part of children’s everyday family life in the UK • Evidence is growing for a positive ‘pet effect’ on children’s development, health and wellbeing • Not all children will respond positively to pets/animals • There are a range of potential mechanisms of the ‘pet effect’ which are being actively researched • Professionals working with children should be aware that children form close relationships with pets, see pets as part of their family, worry about pets when they are ill, and grieve if a pet they are attached to dies