Psychology Professor Nancy Gee co-authored a newly published University of Cambridge study that found children derive more satisfaction from relationships with their pets than with their brothers and sisters.
The study, reported in the online Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, was conducted in collaboration with the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, part of Mars Petcare, and was co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. It was part of a larger study, led by Claire Hughes, deputy director of the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, England.
Researchers surveyed 12-year-old children from 77 families with one or more pets of any type and more than one child at home. Children reported strong relationships with their pets relative to their siblings, with lower levels of conflict and greater satisfaction in owners of dogs than other kinds of pets.
Dr. Gee, a WALTHAM researcher, was quoted in a press release issued by Mars Petcare and the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition that announced the study’s conclusion, reporting, “Evidence continues to grow showing that pets have positive benefits on human health and community cohesion. The social support that adolescents receive from pets may well support psychological well-being later in life but there is still more to learn about the long term impact of pets on children’s development.”
The research adds to increasing evidence that household pets may have a major influence on child development, and could have a positive impact on children’s social skills and emotional well-being, the press release went on to say. Pets are almost as common as siblings in western households, although there are relatively few studies on the importance 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,” said Matt Cassells, lead researcher. “We wanted to know how strong these relationships are with pets relative to other close family ties. Ultimately this may enable us to understand how animals contribute to healthy child development.”
The study can be accessed online.
