Animals Health: Children

This web site section is made possible by a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Child with a dogAbstracts

  1. Children, Pets and Good Health: Reflections on Using an Animal Focused Story-Making Method Within War Trauma Therapy for Children and Young People . Dawson. S.; conference presentation. The SCAS Journal, 2004 Spring; 16(1):12-6.

  2. Does Early Exposure to a Cat or Dog Protect Against Later Allergy Development?, by B. Hesselmar.

  3. The Role of Pet Ownership as a Possible Buffer Variable in Traumatic Experience, by L. Arambasic and G. Kerestes.
  4. The Role of Companion Animals in Human Development, by G.F. Melson.
  5. Impact of Keeping Pets at Home Upon the Social Development of Children, by Zuzanna Toeplitz.
  6. The Supportive Role of Pets in the Childhood of Sexual Abuse Survivors, by S.B. Barker, et al.
  7. Relationships Between Young People with Autism and Their Pets, by J. McNicholas and G.M. Collis.
  8. The Relationship Between Attachment to Companion Animals and Self-Concept: A Developmental Perspective, by S.L. Triebenbacher.
  9. Effects of Pet Ownership on the Well-Being of Adolescents with Few Family Resources, by N. M. Bodmer.
  10. Animals as Means of Emotional Support and Companionship for Children Aged 9 to 13 Years Old, by Anne Salomon.

Children with dog in parkArticles

  1. The Role of Pets in Enhancing Human Well-Being: Effects on Child Development. by Nienke Endenburg and Ben Baarda .
    [Reprinted from The Waltham Book of Human-Animal Interactions: Benefits and Responsibilities. Courtesy of Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition.].
  2. Fostering Inter-Connectedness with Animals and Nature: The Developmental Benefits for Children. Gail Melson. People, Animals, Environment, Fall 1990, pp. 15-17.
  3. Pet Ownership, Type of Pet and Socio-Emotional Development of School Children, by Vlasta Vizek Vidovic, et al.

The following articles are available for download in RTF format. Some articles have figures in GIF format, which will open in your browser. Click on the article or figure name to save the file to your computer or to a disk. After you have saved the file, open the article in a word processor to read or print the article or open the figure in a paint or other program to view or print the figure.

  1. Attitudes Toward Animals Among Norwegian Adolescents. by Tore Bjerke, et al. (42K, RTF). [Download figures: Figure 1 (21K, GIF), Figure 2 (24K, GIF), Figure 3 (24K, GIF).]
  2. Enhancing Children's Attitudes About the Humane Treatment of Animals: Generalization to Human-directed Empathy, by Frank Ascione (70K, RTF). [Download figures: Figure 1 (9K, GIF), Figure 2 (13K, GIF).]
  3. Children’s Attitudes About the Humane Treatment of Animals and Empathy: One Year Follow Up.. by Frank Ascione and Claudia Weber (34K, GIF). [Download figures: Figure 1 (22K, GIF), Figure 2 (11K, GIF), Figure 3 (11K, GIF), Figure 4 (11K, GIF), Figure 5 (8K, GIF).]
  4. Companion Animals and Other Factors Affecting Young Children’s Development, by Robert H. Poresky (74K, RTF). [Download figure: Figure 1 (17K, GIF).]

Bibliographies