Parental behavior, human-animal interaction, and adolescent development

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Project Summary Pets are recognized as an important facet of the family system, yet research on adolescent–pet relationships has been limited in several key ways. Youth–pet relationship quality is a potentially critical factor in predicting outcomes of youth human-animal interaction but the nuances of how adolescent–pet relationship quality may influence the effects of pet ownership have not been fully explored. In particular, there is a significant need for longitudinal designs to unravel if and how quality of relationship remains stable, and how any change patterns are linked to youth outcomes. Additionally, human–animal interactions exist as part of complex family systems, but the majority of youth human-animal interaction (HAI) research focuses on assessing individual dyadic relationships. There is relatively little known about how parents may directly or indirectly socialize the pet into the family system as an intentional (or unintentional) way of creating a positive environment for their children. Currently, little data exist on how parents view adolescent–pet interactions and the potential benefits or risks as associated with these relationships. Exploring parental attitudes and behaviors is an important facet of understanding the processes involved in youth HAI. The specific aims of this project are 1) To longitudinally assess if youth–pet relationship quality is predictive of healthy adolescent behaviors, and 2) to assess how parents influence the ways in which pets are integrated into the family system. To achieve these aims, we will utilize data from a larger ongoing longitudinal survey (1R15HD094281-01) of students aged 11-15 (n=773) and their parents (n=228), and will recruit a subset of parents/guardians to participate in a follow-up exploratory interview study (n=30) about socialization processes focused on how family pets can contribute to the healthy development of early adolescents. The results from this proposed study will reduce gaps in empirical knowledge by focusing research attention on the quality and consistency of human-animal interactions between adolescents and their pets using a robust longitudinal approach. In addition, this study will provide nuanced mixed-methods data that will have significant implications for understanding the diverse ways in which parents have socialized the adolescent-pet relationship.