Pet Dogs as Compensatory Support Figures

宠物狗作为补偿性支持人物

• 批准号: 8232764
• 负责人: KATHRYN A KERNS
• 金额: $ 6.89万
• 依托单位: KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-15 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8232764
• 关键词: 11 year old; 9 year old; Address; Adolescent; Affect; Age; Animals; Anxiety; Area; Buffers; Canis familiaris; Child; Child Development; Childhood; Data; Development; Family; Fathers; Financial compensation; Friends; Friendships; Grant; Heart Rate; Home environment; Human; Interview; Loneliness; Love; Measurement; Mental Health; Methods; Monitor; Mothers; Outcome; Ownership; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Perception; Questionnaires; Recruitment Activity; Reporting; Research; Resources; Role; Sampling; Social Adjustment; Social Interaction; Staging; Surveys; Testing; Therapeutic; Time; United States; Visit; Work; behavior observation; emotional adjustment; experience; interest; peer; pet animal; physical conditioning; preadolescence; research study; response; social; stressor; teacher; theories

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite high levels of pet ownership in the United States (Melson, 2003; Walsh, 2009), research on the impact of human-animal interaction on physical and mental health is still in the early stages, especially research considering the impact of childhood pets. The key question of this grant is whether supportive relationships with pets can compensate for difficulties in other close relationships in preadolescence. Although there tends to be consistency in the quality of children's relationships with different human partners, children's and adolescents' reports of the quality of their relationships with parents is unrelated to the quality of relationships with their pets (Covert et al, 1985; Kurdek, 2003). Thus, pets may be a resource available to children who most need them. Because we are particularly interested in pets who can readily interact with children, and who are likely to provide them with unconditional love and support, the study will focus on children's interactions with dogs. We propose to examine the effects of children's relationships with their dogs on emotional and social adjustment in a sample of 100 9 to 11 year-old children. Using a variety of methods-- including questionnaires from children and teachers, behavioral observation, and heart rate monitoring- we focus on how and for whom pet dogs can function as support figures. More specifically we will address 4 questions: 1. Do children who have more positive interactions with their dogs also experience less loneliness and social anxiety and show fewer conduct problems? 2. Are these associations stronger for children who report low quality friendships, suggesting relationships with pets can buffer children who have problems in their peer relationships? 3. Are these associations stronger (i.e., buffering) for children who report more insecure attachments to their mothers and fathers? 4. Are children's responses to a social challenge task more adaptive when their pet dog is present, and is this especially true for children who have close relationships with their dogs or lower quality relationships with friends or parents? The significance of the proposed study is that it provides an opportunity to test whether relationships and social interactions with pets can serve as a buffering mechanism for preadolescents who are experiencing difficulties in relationships with parents or peers. If pets have a salutary effect then it would suggest new directions for treatment of children with adjustment difficulties (and possibly such treatments might be more acceptable to families than other alternatives that are more demanding on parents). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The later middle childhood years (ages 9 to 12) are a time of social challenge for children. A key developmental task is acquiring sufficient support from relationships to buffer against the negative outcomes (eg, loneliness, conduct problems) associated with interpersonal relationship difficulties. The proposed study, which tests whether relationships with pets can serve as a buffering mechanism for preadolescents who are experiencing difficulties in relationships with parents or peers, could suggest new directions for treatment of children with adjustment difficulties.

描述(申请人提供)：尽管美国的宠物拥有率很高(Melson，2003；Walsh，2009)，但关于人与动物相互作用对身心健康的影响的研究仍处于早期阶段，特别是考虑到影响的研究 孩提时代的宠物。这笔赠款的关键问题是，与宠物的支持性关系能否弥补青春期前其他亲密关系中的困难。尽管儿童与不同人类伴侣的关系质量往往是一致的，但儿童和青少年对他们与父母关系质量的报告是无关的 与宠物的关系质量(Covert et al，1985；Kurdek，2003)。因此，宠物可能是最需要它们的孩子们可用的资源。由于我们对那些容易与儿童互动的宠物特别感兴趣，而且它们可能会为它们提供无条件的爱和支持，因此这项研究将重点放在儿童与狗的互动上。本研究以100名9至11岁儿童为样本，研究儿童与狗的关系对情绪和社会适应的影响。使用各种方法--包括来自儿童和老师的问卷调查、行为观察和心率监测--我们重点关注宠物狗如何以及对谁起到支持作用。更具体地说，我们将回答4个问题：1.与狗有更多积极互动的孩子是否也会经历更少的孤独和社交焦虑，并表现出更少的行为问题？2.这些联系对于报告友谊质量较低的儿童是否更强，这表明与宠物的关系可以缓冲在同伴关系中存在问题的儿童？3.对于报告对父母更不安全的依恋的儿童，这些联系是否更强(即缓冲)？4.当宠物狗在场时，儿童对社交挑战的反应是否更具适应性？对于与狗狗关系密切或与朋友或父母关系质量较低的孩子来说，情况尤其如此吗？这项拟议的研究的意义在于，它提供了一个测试与宠物的关系和社交互动是否可以作为缓冲机制的机会，以帮助那些在与父母或同龄人的关系中遇到困难的青少年。如果宠物有有益的效果，那么它将为治疗有适应困难的儿童提供新的方向(而且这种治疗可能比其他对父母要求更高的选择更容易被家庭接受)。 与公共卫生相关：儿童中期后期(9至12岁)是儿童面临社会挑战的时期。一项关键的发展任务是从人际关系中获得足够的支持，以缓冲与人际关系困难相关的负面结果(例如，孤独、行为问题)。这项拟议的研究测试了与宠物的关系是否可以作为缓冲机制，帮助那些在与父母或同龄人的关系中遇到困难的青少年，这项研究可能会为治疗适应困难的儿童提供新的方向。