Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence

Janine C. Muldoon; Joanne M. Williams; Candace Currie

doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002

Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence

Janine C. Muldoon, Joanne M. Williams, Candace Currie

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The precise nature of attachment to pets and differences between girls' and boys' relationships at age 11, 13 and 15 years are investigated in this paper. Data from the 2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Scotland were used to examine various qualities of adolescents' attachments to their pet dogs, cats and small mammals. Survey participants (N = 2472) answered pet ownership questions and completed the ‘Short Attachment to Pets Scale’ (SAPS). Multivariate analysis revealed main effects of age, sex and pet type, but no interaction effects. There is a pattern of weakening attachment to pets with increasing age, with emotional support qualities of attachment receiving higher ratings from girls, and stronger attachments evident with dogs. These findings enhance understanding of the role played by pets in the broader relational context of adolescents' lives, and help to identify how we might intervene to support adolescents experiencing socio-emotional difficulties or life disruptions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	50-58
Journal	Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Volume	62
Early online date	25 Jan 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002
Publication status	Published - May 2019

Keywords

Adolescence
Age
Animals
Attachment
Children
Pets

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10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002

Muldoon_2018_JADP_Attachmenttopets_AAM
© 2018 Published by Elsevier Inc. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002
Accepted author manuscript, 337 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{bc38a3ff2ace4c2d8c2b8a343ab17b1e,

title = "Differences in boys{\textquoteright} and girls{\textquoteright} attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence",

abstract = "The precise nature of attachment to pets and differences between girls' and boys' relationships at age 11, 13 and 15 years are investigated in this paper. Data from the 2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Scotland were used to examine various qualities of adolescents' attachments to their pet dogs, cats and small mammals. Survey participants (N = 2472) answered pet ownership questions and completed the {\textquoteleft}Short Attachment to Pets Scale{\textquoteright} (SAPS). Multivariate analysis revealed main effects of age, sex and pet type, but no interaction effects. There is a pattern of weakening attachment to pets with increasing age, with emotional support qualities of attachment receiving higher ratings from girls, and stronger attachments evident with dogs. These findings enhance understanding of the role played by pets in the broader relational context of adolescents' lives, and help to identify how we might intervene to support adolescents experiencing socio-emotional difficulties or life disruptions.",

keywords = "Adolescence, Age, Animals, Attachment, Children, Pets",

author = "Muldoon, {Janine C.} and Williams, {Joanne M.} and Candace Currie",

note = "This work was supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [grant numbers AW1404 and AW1407].",

year = "2019",

month = may,

doi = "10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002",

language = "English",

volume = "62",

pages = "50--58",

journal = "Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology",

issn = "0193-3973",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence

AU - Muldoon, Janine C.

AU - Williams, Joanne M.

AU - Currie, Candace

N1 - This work was supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [grant numbers AW1404 and AW1407].

PY - 2019/5

Y1 - 2019/5

N2 - The precise nature of attachment to pets and differences between girls' and boys' relationships at age 11, 13 and 15 years are investigated in this paper. Data from the 2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Scotland were used to examine various qualities of adolescents' attachments to their pet dogs, cats and small mammals. Survey participants (N = 2472) answered pet ownership questions and completed the ‘Short Attachment to Pets Scale’ (SAPS). Multivariate analysis revealed main effects of age, sex and pet type, but no interaction effects. There is a pattern of weakening attachment to pets with increasing age, with emotional support qualities of attachment receiving higher ratings from girls, and stronger attachments evident with dogs. These findings enhance understanding of the role played by pets in the broader relational context of adolescents' lives, and help to identify how we might intervene to support adolescents experiencing socio-emotional difficulties or life disruptions.

AB - The precise nature of attachment to pets and differences between girls' and boys' relationships at age 11, 13 and 15 years are investigated in this paper. Data from the 2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Scotland were used to examine various qualities of adolescents' attachments to their pet dogs, cats and small mammals. Survey participants (N = 2472) answered pet ownership questions and completed the ‘Short Attachment to Pets Scale’ (SAPS). Multivariate analysis revealed main effects of age, sex and pet type, but no interaction effects. There is a pattern of weakening attachment to pets with increasing age, with emotional support qualities of attachment receiving higher ratings from girls, and stronger attachments evident with dogs. These findings enhance understanding of the role played by pets in the broader relational context of adolescents' lives, and help to identify how we might intervene to support adolescents experiencing socio-emotional difficulties or life disruptions.

KW - Adolescence

KW - Age

KW - Animals

KW - Attachment

KW - Children

KW - Pets

UR - https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1YSiyh~JIPVsk

U2 - 10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002

DO - 10.1016/j.appdev.2018.12.002

M3 - Article

SN - 0193-3973

VL - 62

SP - 50

EP - 58

JO - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

JF - Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

ER -

Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence

Abstract

Keywords

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DEFRA Investigation of 13-17 year olds: an investigation of 13-17 year olds

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Differences in boys’ and girls’ attachment to pets in early-mid adolescence

Abstract

Keywords

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Other files and links

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DEFRA Investigation of 13-17 year olds: an investigation of 13-17 year olds

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