Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others
The research shows that children’s and adolescents’ attachments with pets play an important role in their social and emotional lives. However, little research exists on how children and adolescents show compassion toward themselves and others and how this caring ability relates to their attachment w...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Adolescents |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/2/4/39 |
| _version_ | 1797461953157791744 |
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| author | Sandra Bosacki Christine Yvette Tardif-Williams Renata P. S. Roma |
| author_facet | Sandra Bosacki Christine Yvette Tardif-Williams Renata P. S. Roma |
| author_sort | Sandra Bosacki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The research shows that children’s and adolescents’ attachments with pets play an important role in their social and emotional lives. However, little research exists on how children and adolescents show compassion toward themselves and others and how this caring ability relates to their attachment with pets. This study explored the relations among children’s and adolescents’ compassion, empathy, and attachment to their pets. Sixty-one Canadian youths aged 7–15.9 years (<i>M</i> = 11.35) participated in this study (<i>n</i> = 38 g, 23 b) and completed self-report questionnaires including the Lexington Attachment to Pets scale, subscale of Dispositional Positive Emotions, Self-compassion scale for children, and Bryant’s Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA). The results showed older adolescents were more likely than younger children to score high on cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy and be less likely to feel alone and isolated. High levels of emotional pet attachment related to high levels of the ability to feel sad when witnessing others in distress and high levels of mindful, compassionate, and self-responding feelings of compassion for others. The results also showed that those participants who experienced intensified emotional attachment toward their pets (either current or in the past), were less likely to judge themselves in negative ways. Overall, our findings suggest that children’s emotional attachments with pets relate to their ability to respond to themselves and others in kind and compassionate ways and not necessarily their ability to understand another person’s emotions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:26:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1b7ee2aa1861401bb14609c380479bcb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-7051 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:26:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Adolescents |
| spelling | doaj.art-1b7ee2aa1861401bb14609c380479bcb2023-11-24T12:37:08ZengMDPI AGAdolescents2673-70512022-11-012449350710.3390/adolescents2040039Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and OthersSandra Bosacki0Christine Yvette Tardif-Williams1Renata P. S. Roma2Department of Educational Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, CanadaDepartment of Child and Youth Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, CanadaDepartment of Educational Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, CanadaThe research shows that children’s and adolescents’ attachments with pets play an important role in their social and emotional lives. However, little research exists on how children and adolescents show compassion toward themselves and others and how this caring ability relates to their attachment with pets. This study explored the relations among children’s and adolescents’ compassion, empathy, and attachment to their pets. Sixty-one Canadian youths aged 7–15.9 years (<i>M</i> = 11.35) participated in this study (<i>n</i> = 38 g, 23 b) and completed self-report questionnaires including the Lexington Attachment to Pets scale, subscale of Dispositional Positive Emotions, Self-compassion scale for children, and Bryant’s Index of Empathy for Children and Adolescents (IECA). The results showed older adolescents were more likely than younger children to score high on cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy and be less likely to feel alone and isolated. High levels of emotional pet attachment related to high levels of the ability to feel sad when witnessing others in distress and high levels of mindful, compassionate, and self-responding feelings of compassion for others. The results also showed that those participants who experienced intensified emotional attachment toward their pets (either current or in the past), were less likely to judge themselves in negative ways. Overall, our findings suggest that children’s emotional attachments with pets relate to their ability to respond to themselves and others in kind and compassionate ways and not necessarily their ability to understand another person’s emotions.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/2/4/39childrenpetsattachmentempathycompassion |
| spellingShingle | Sandra Bosacki Christine Yvette Tardif-Williams Renata P. S. Roma Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others Adolescents children pets attachment empathy compassion |
| title | Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others |
| title_full | Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others |
| title_fullStr | Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others |
| title_full_unstemmed | Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others |
| title_short | Children’s and Adolescents’ Pet Attachment, Empathy, and Compassionate Responding to Self and Others |
| title_sort | children s and adolescents pet attachment empathy and compassionate responding to self and others |
| topic | children pets attachment empathy compassion |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7051/2/4/39 |
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