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Researchers indicated that children usually develop a close bond with their pet.
STATES CHRONICLE – Children usually develop a close bond with their pets. A new study shows they are more likely to have a strong relationship with their pet than with their sibling. Researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a study which proved that children might get along better with their cat or dog than with their brother or sister.
The study also proves the importance of pets in a child’s life, playing a significant role in its social and emotional development. Matt Cassells, the lead author of the study and a Gates Cambridge Scholar at the Department of Psychiatry, argued that every child who has a pet develops a closer bond, searching for disclosure and companionship.
He together with his team of researchers wanted to reveal how strong were the relationships between pets and children by also trying to identify pets’ contribution to a healthy child development. The study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, being developed with the help of the WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition. This organization is bound to analyze the significance of the pet-child bond.
The team of scientists surveyed several 12-year-old children who were part of 77 families in the UK, asking them about their relationship with their pets. The majority responded that they developed a close correlation with their pets that they ever did with their brothers or sisters. This explains how attached children can get to their pets.
Those kids who had dogs as pets revealed to feel greater satisfaction compared to the rest of the children who owned other species of animals as pets. This new study has debunked the idea that boys develop stronger bonds with pets than girls. Cassells explained that while both boys and girls indicated that they were equally pleased with their pets, girls tended to show more disclosure and conflict compared to boys.
Even if scientists need to continue their study upon the impact of pets on the development of children, they have concluded so far that adolescents or kids with pets tend to be more sincere when it comes to their emotions. Cassells also stated the level of pets disclosure was not more decreased compare to siblings, even if pets do not verbally respond or they may not understand children’s intentions.
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