Pet Ownership and Children's Self-Esteem in the Context of War

Keresteš, Gordana; Arambašić, Lidija; Kuterovac-Jagodić, Gordana; Vizek-Vidović, Vlasta

doi:10.2752/089279399787000101

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This study further found that girls (but not boys) with a dog or cat reported the lowest rates of PTSD symptoms [16]. However, a similar study that investigated the influence of pet ownership on self-esteem in war-traumatized children did not find a difference between pet owners and non-pet owners [17]. Moreover, a study in survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 found that pet owners had higher rates of PTSD symptoms one month after the natural disaster, but significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms after 4.4 years [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Lass‐Hennemann

Michael

Sopp

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals working in high-risk occupations (e.g., emergency staff) are exposed to high levels of occupational stress including traumatic events. Correspondingly, several studies report high rates of mental health problems among these occupations. Pet ownership has been associated with better mental health. However, to date a study on the association between pet ownership and indicators of mental health in these occupations is missing. The present cross-sectional survey (N = 580) investigated pet ownership, attachment to pets, health-benefitting factors (i.e., sense of coherence, trait-resilience, locus of control) and psychopathological symptoms (i.e., general mental health problems, posttraumatic stress, burnout) in medical staff, police officers, and firefighters. Dog owners and non-dog owners showed comparable levels of psychopathological distress and health-benefitting factors. Compared to cat owners, dog owners demonstrated stronger emotional attachment to their pet. Moreover, a stronger attachment was also linked to higher levels of psychopathological symptoms and lower levels of health-benefitting factors. However, the relationship between attachment to pets and health-benefitting factors could be explained by their overlap with psychopathological symptom levels. Overall, our findings are not in line with the notion that pet ownership generally has a health-benefitting effect. Future studies need to investigate circumstances that modulate positive effects of pet ownership.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Lass‐Hennemann

Michael

Sopp

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…No effect on self-esteem was found in pet-owning war-traumatized children (11–15 years) in Croatia using the Croatian Version of Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale (SES) [46]. In the same study, the type of pet owned had no effect either on validated self-esteem measures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Companion Animals and Child/Adolescent Development: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Purewal

Christley

Kordas

et al. 2017

IJERPH

219

189

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Childhood and adolescence are important developmental phases which influence health and well-being across the life span. Social relationships are fundamental to child and adolescent development; yet studies have been limited to children’s relationships with other humans. This paper provides an evidence review for the potential associations between pet ownership and emotional; behavioural; cognitive; educational and social developmental outcomes. As the field is in the early stages; a broad set of inclusion criteria was applied. A systematic search of databases and grey literature sources found twenty-two studies meeting selection criteria. The review found evidence for an association between pet ownership and a wide range of emotional health benefits from childhood pet ownership; particularly for self-esteem and loneliness. The findings regarding childhood anxiety and depression were inconclusive. Studies also showed evidence of an association between pet ownership and educational and cognitive benefits; for example, in perspective-taking abilities and intellectual development. Evidence on behavioural development was unclear due to a lack of high quality research. Studies on pet ownership and social development provided evidence for an association with increased social competence; social networks; social interaction and social play behaviour. Overall, pet ownership and the significance of children’s bonds with companion animals have been underexplored; there is a shortage of high quality and longitudinal studies in all outcomes. Prospective studies that control for a wide range of confounders are required.

show abstract

“…From a psychological health perspective, pet ownership in adolescence has been shown to enhance self-esteem [16–19], decrease loneliness [20–22], and increase resilience to depressive [22] and anxious symptoms [13]. However, the research is not conclusive; some studies have found null effects on these outcomes [23–25]. Pet ownership has also been associated with educational [26] and cognitive development [27] of youths.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-demographic factors associated with pet ownership amongst adolescents from a UK birth cohort

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background In developed nations, pet ownership is common within families. Both physical and psychological health benefits may result from owning a pet during childhood and adolescence. However, it is difficult to determine whether these benefits are due to pet ownership directly or to factors linked to both pet ownership and health. Previous research found associations between a range of socio-demographic factors and pet ownership in seven-year-old children from a UK cohort. The current study extends this research to adolescence, considering that these factors may be important to consider in future Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) research across childhood. Results The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) collected pet ownership data prospectively via maternal reports from gestation up to age 10 years old and via self-report retrospectively at age 18 for ages 11 (n = 3063) to 18 years old (n = 3098) on cats, dogs, rabbits, rodents, birds, fish, tortoise/turtles and horses. The dataset also contains a wide range of potential confounders, including demographic and socio-economic variables. The ownership of all pet types peaked at age 11 (80%) and then decreased during adolescence, with the exclusion of cats which remained constant (around 30%), and dogs which increased through 11–18 years (26–37%). Logistic regression was used to build multivariable models for ownership of each pet type at age 13 years, and the factors identified in these models were compared to previously published data for 7 year-olds in the same cohort. There was some consistency with predictors reported at age 7. Generally sex, birth order, maternal age, maternal education, number of people in the household, house type, and concurrent ownership of other pets were associated with pet ownership at both 7 and 13 years (the direction of association varied according to pet type). Factors that were no longer associated with adolescent pet ownership included child ethnicity, paternal education, and parental social class. Conclusions A number of socio-demographic factors are associated with pet ownership in childhood and adolescence and they differ according to the type of pet, and age of child. These factors are potential confounders that must be considered in future HAI studies.

show abstract

Pet Ownership and Children's Self-Esteem in the Context of War

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

The Relationship between Dog Ownership, Psychopathological Symptoms and Health-Benefitting Factors in Occupations at Risk for Traumatization

Companion Animals and Child/Adolescent Development: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Socio-demographic factors associated with pet ownership amongst adolescents from a UK birth cohort

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About