Companion Animals and Child/Adolescent Development: A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Abstract

Childhood and adolescence are important developmental phases which influence health and well-being across the life span. Social relationships are fundamental to child and adolescent development; yet studies have been limited to children's relationships with other humans. This paper provides an evidence review for the potential associations between pet ownership and emotional; behavioural; cognitive; educational and social developmental outcomes. As the field is in the early stages; a broad set of inclusion criteria was applied. A systematic search of databases and grey literature sources found twenty-two studies meeting selection criteria. The review found evidence for an association between pet ownership and a wide range of emotional health benefits from childhood pet ownership; particularly for self-esteem and loneliness. The findings regarding childhood anxiety and depression were inconclusive. Studies also showed evidence of an association between pet ownership and educational and cognitive benefits; for example, in perspective-taking abilities and intellectual development. Evidence on behavioural development was unclear due to a lack of high quality research. Studies on pet ownership and social development provided evidence for an association with increased social competence; social networks; social interaction and social play behaviour. Overall, pet ownership and the significance of children's bonds with companion animals have been underexplored; there is a shortage of high quality and longitudinal studies in all outcomes. Prospective studies that control for a wide range of confounders are required.

Keywords: adolescent development; child development; human-animal interaction; pet ownership; review.

Figure 1

PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram.

Figure 2

Harvest plot showing evidence for the impact pets have on categories of child and adolescent development. The table consists of eight rows (one for each dimension of development) and three columns (showing the differential effects of the evidence in each category). Each study is represented by a bar in each row; studies can be identified by reference number. Statistically significant effects (use of p-values) are indicated with solid blue bars, and studies with no confidence intervals and p-values reported are striped bars. The quality of study design is indicated by the height of the bar as categorised by OCEBM level of Evidence 2011. Each bar is annotated with marking to show risk of bias.

Figure 3

Hypothesized links for the impact of pet ownership and attachment on emotional health outcomes that postulates (a) physiological responses from pet interaction result in stress reduction (green pathway), and (b) anxiety, separation anxiety and depression are indirectly reduced by a wider social network and increased social support and companionship from pets (blue pathways) and (c) pet attachment may be indirectly affected by primary caregiver attachment (mother figure) through the internal working model (red pathway).

Figure 4

Hypothesized links for the impact of pet ownership and attachment on self-esteem, and loneliness that postulates (a) pet attachment directly increases self-esteem, and self-esteem and self-concept are increased indirectly through a wider social network resulting in increased social support (green) and (b) loneliness is reduced through a wider social network gained from having a pet, and increased social support and companionship from the pet (blue) and (c) relationship and communication skills are honed through increased social interaction (red).

Figure 5

Hypothesized links for the impact of pet ownership and attachment on cognitive and educational outcomes, that postulates (a) Executive Functions are indirectly supported by stress reduction and increased social support, and therefore a reduced incidence of problematic behaviours follows (green) and (b) improved academic outcomes may result due to education being positively affected by improved executive functions and increased social support (blue) and (c) social cognition and language acquisition are enhanced by communication and social interaction with pets (red).