Pets are a Child’s best friend
new study finds that children value the companionship of their pet even a lot more than their sibling
Children get a lot more fulfillment from relationships with their family pets than with their brothers or sisters, according to a newly published university of Cambridge study. children also appear to get on even better with their animal companions than with siblings. The research adds to boosting evidence that household family pets may have a major influence on child development, and could have a positive impact on children’s social skills and emotional well-being.
Pets are a child’s best friend (PRNewsFoto/Mars Petcare)
Pets are nearly as common as siblings in western households, although there are relatively few studies on the value of child-pet relationships. “Anyone who has loved a childhood pet knows that we turn to them for companionship and disclosure, just like relationships between people,” says Matt Cassells, lead researcher. “We wanted to know how strong these relationships are with family pets relative to other close family ties. ultimately this may enable us to understand how animals contribute to healthy child development”
This study, published in the Journal of applied Developmental Psychology, was conducted in collaboration with the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, part of Mars Petcare and the economic and Social research Council as part of a larger study, led by Prof Claire Hughes at the university of Cambridge Centre for family Research. Researchers surveyed 12 year old children from 77 families with one or a lot more family pets of any type and a lot more than one child at home. children reported strong relationships with their family pets relative to their siblings, with lower levels of conflict and greater fulfillment in owners of dogs than other kinds of pets.
“Even though family pets may not fully understand or respond verbally, the level of disclosure to family pets was no less than to siblings,” says Cassels. “The fact that family pets cannot understand or talk back may even be a benefit as it indicates they are completely non-judgmental. While previous research has often found that kids report stronger relationships with their family pets than girls do, we actually found the opposite. While kids and girls were equally satisfied with their pets, girls reported a lot more disclosure, companionship, and conflict with their pet than did boys, maybe indicating that girls may interact with their family pets in a lot more nuanced ways.”
“Evidence continues to grow showing that family pets have positive benefits on human health and community cohesion,” says WALTHAM researcher Nancy Gee, a co-author of the study. “The social support that adolescents receive from family pets may well support psychological well-being later in life but there is still a lot more to learn about the long term impact of family pets on children’s development.”
Source Mars Petcare