They Call it Puppy Love: Epidemiology and Biology of the Child-Dog Bond

他们称之为早恋：童狗关系的流行病学和生物学

• 批准号: 7992875
• 负责人: KRISTEN C. JACOBSON
• 金额: $ 7.8万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7992875
• 关键词: Address; Adolescent; Aggressive behavior; Alcohol or Other Drugs use; Animals; Area; Autistic Disorder; Behavioral; Biological; Biological Markers; Biology; Brain; Canis familiaris; Caregivers; Characteristics; Child; Child Development; Communities; Control Groups; Emotional; Emotional disorder; Epidemiology; Event; Family; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Funding; Grant; Human; Hydrocortisone; Imaging Techniques; Incidence; Individual Differences; Interview; Knowledge; Life; Link; Love; Measures; Mediating; Mental Depression; Neighborhoods; Neurobiology; Neurons; Outcome; Ownership; Oxytocin; Parents; Pathway interactions; Patient Self-Report; Pattern; Phase; Problem behavior; Reporting; Resources; Rewards; Risk; Sampling; Schools; Screening procedure; Siblings; Stimulus; Stress; Temperament; Vasopressins; aged; base; behavior measurement; child depression; cost; design; disability; epidemiology study; neurobiological mechanism; pet animal; protective effect; psychologic; public health relevance; response; social; stressor

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is growing evidence that pet ownership and human-animal interaction (HAI) and child-pet attachment may be beneficial for children with autism and other disabilities. However, whether HAI and attachment confers similar protective effects among a community sample of children at-risk for other behavioral and emotional disorders is unknown. Similarly, whether the potential protective effects of the child-dog bond are moderated by environmental, social, and psychological characteristics of children has not been systematically evaluated. Finally, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of the positive effects of child-pet attachment are largely undiscovered. Using a community-based sample of children aged 10 to 18 from an ongoing, currently funded project ("From Neighborhoods to Neurons and Beyond," 5DP2 OD003021), the present proposal seeks to address these gaps in our knowledge through a three-phase study of the epidemiology and psychological and biological basis of the child-dog bond. In Phase I, we will characterize the incidence of pet ownership among a community-based sample of 1,200-1,500 families with adolescent children in 6th - 8th grade who have participated in a prior school-based study of adolescent problem behaviors. In Phase II, we will determine whether individual differences in the quality of child-dog relationships are related to individual differences in aggression, delinquency, substance use, and depression, and whether child temperament and/or environmental conditions mediate or moderate these relationships in a sample of 200 children from Phase I and their siblings and caregivers, all of whom are participating in the PI's ongoing study. Finally, we will begin to explore the underlying neurobiology of the child-dog bond through a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of brain activation in response to pictures of pet dogs in a sample of 48 children, and will further explore biological mechanisms underlying the potential protective effects of the child-dog bond by comparing changes in oxytocin, vasopressin, and cortisol following a mild stressor in children who own dogs (N = 24) versus non- pet owning children (N = 24). PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: There is growing evidence that pet ownership and human-animal attachment and interaction may be beneficial for children with autism and other disabilities. However, whether human-animal attachment and interaction through pet ownership confers similar protective effects among a community sample of children at-risk for other behavioral and emotional disorders is unknown. This study will address this question by linking new measures of child-dog attachment to existing behavioral measures from a large community sample of adolescents, and will also help us to better understand neurobiological pathways that underlie individual differences in the child-dog bond that may further serve as protective influences for child development.

描述（由申请人提供）：越来越多的证据表明，养宠物、人与动物的互动（HAI）以及儿童与宠物的依恋可能对患有自闭症和其他残疾的儿童有益。然而，HAI 和依恋是否对有其他行为和情绪障碍风险的社区儿童样本具有类似的保护作用尚不清楚。同样，儿童与狗关系的潜在保护作用是否受到儿童的环境、社会和心理特征的调节尚未得到系统评估。最后，儿童与宠物依恋产生积极影响的潜在神经生物学机制在很大程度上尚未被发现。本提案使用目前资助的正在进行的项目（“从社区到神经元及其他”，5DP2 OD003021）中以社区为基础的 10 至 18 岁儿童样本，旨在通过对儿童与狗关系的流行病学以及心理和生物学基础的三阶段研究来弥补我们的知识差距。在第一阶段，我们将以社区为样本，描述 1,200-1,500 个有 6 至 8 年级青少年儿童的家庭中养宠物的发生率，这些家庭之前参加过一项基于学校的青少年问题行为研究。在第二阶段，我们将以第一阶段的 200 名儿童及其兄弟姐妹和照顾者为样本，确定儿童与狗关系质量的个体差异是否与攻击性、犯罪、物质使用和抑郁的个体差异有关，以及儿童的气质和/或环境条件是否介导或缓和这些关系，所有这些儿童都参与了 PI 正在进行的研究。最后，我们将通过功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）研究对 48 名儿童样本中宠物狗图片的反应进行大脑激活，开始探索儿童与狗关系的潜在神经生物学，并将通过比较养狗儿童在轻度压力源后催产素、加压素和皮质醇的变化，进一步探索儿童与狗关系潜在保护作用的生物机制（N = 24）与不养宠物的孩子（N = 24）。 公共卫生相关性：越来越多的证据表明，饲养宠物以及人与动物的依恋和互动可能对患有自闭症和其他残疾的儿童有益。然而，人类与动物的依恋和通过饲养宠物进行的互动是否会在社区样本中具有其他行为和情绪障碍风险的儿童中产生类似的保护作用尚不清楚。这项研究将通过将儿童与狗依恋的新测量方法与来自大量青少年社区样本的现有行为测量方法联系起来来解决这个问题，并且还将帮助我们更好地理解儿童与狗关系个体差异背后的神经生物学途径，这可能进一步对儿童发展起到保护性影响。