Running Head: PETS AND CHILDREN

THE EFFECTS OF HAVING A PET ON

A CHILDS PHYSICAL, MENTAL
AND SOCIAL HEALTH

A Research Proposal

By:
GALANG, Margot
PEARUBIA, Pamela
RAIT, Queen Racel May
SOBREVIAS, Steffanie Ros
VELASCO, Icee Grace

Southville International School Affiliated with Foreign Universities

09 December 2015

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Abstract

This research focuses on the effects of having a pet on a childs physical, mental and social health.
Children are often vulnerable to their environment and could easily pick up influences from various
sources, which brings the researchers the idea of how a pet could affect a childs health, whether it would
be positive or negative. The review of literature in this study leads to three research questions: (1) What
are the common reasons of a child for having a pet? (2) How does having a pet affect a child
physically, mentally and socially? (3) Does having a pet bring about a positive or negative effect on a
childs physical, mental and social health? The methods chosen to answer these research questions would
be a survey questionnaire and T-test.

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The Effects of Having a Pet on a Childs Physical, Mental and Social Health

Most children love animals. From the time that they are born, they are given toys that resemble
animals; as they grow up, they are taught different sounds that animals make. It comes as no surprise that
children are delighted by the idea of having a pet, and they could carry this into their adulthood, bringing
about a possible effect on their physical, mental and social health. This is further validated by Gail F.
Melson (2008) who estimated that 4 in 10 children grow up in family with pets, and as many as 90
percent of all children are brought up with a pet at some point in their childhood.
Today, almost all children express their desire to have pets (Pagani, Robustelli, & Ascione 2007).
The status of companion animals is continuously evolving in the society. (Daniels 2004) In many
instances, pets have moved to the center of peoples lives and are considered to be important members of
families. They can affect people, especially the children in different ways: physically, mentally,
emotionally and socially. Furthermore, the steps that are taken to protect children are taken to protect pets
as well. During a divorce, many people also fight for pet custody. There are many instances wherein
people also make provisions for their pets in their wills. Most people want to ensure that their pets will
always be happy, healthy and well-taken care of, even in the event that they are no longer with them;
this shows the importance of pets in each owners lives. But even if having a pet brings about joy and
happiness to most children, it can also have adverse effects on them as well as the people and the
environment surrounding them.
The aim of this research is to identify the reason behind the childrens desire of owning a pet.
Subsequently, this research will show the impact of pets on the social, mental, and physical health of
children, by finding out if having a pet brings about a positive or a negative effect.

The literature review of this research paper deems to seek possible answers to these
following research questions:
1) What are the common reasons of a child for having a pet?

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2) How does having a pet affect a child physically, mentally and socially?
3) Does having a pet bring about a positive or negative effect on a childs physical, mental and social health?

Common Reasons for Acquiring a Pet

Content. A pet, also called as a companion animal is an animal that is principally kept for
the purpose of accompaniment and protection. Pets come in different appearances and breeds, which
makes them unique and distinguishes them from one another. They are also mostly known for their goodnatured and loyal personalities.
There are several ideas as to why children want to adopt a pet. According to the previous research
of a psychologist named Lance Workman (2015), there are five main reasons that people consider when
buying or adopting a pet. These are for enjoyment, aesthetically pleasing surrounding, social interaction,
security, and status symbol. Pet Report (2015) shows that pets can encourage a person to change his or
her way of living. Most pet owners treat their pets like children which cause them to be responsible,
reliable and trustworthy.
Animals are a great source of comfort. Dr. Melson (2015), the author of Why the Wild Things
Are: Animals in the Lives of Children, asked a group of 5-year-old pet owners what they do when they are
upset, terrified or when they want someone they can share their secret with. The result of the question
showed that more than 40% of the children said that they go to their pets during these times. Dr. Melson
stated that, "Kids who get support from their animal companions were rated by their parents as less
anxious and withdrawn". (Strickland, 2015) This shows that pets do help calm children down and make
them feel at ease during stressful situations that would normally make children anxious.
Moreover, Wells (2015) says that, the pet serves as a source of security because children open up
a channel for the discussion of subconscious fears and worries.
Wedderburn (2015) says that, not only do pets serve as friends, they are also capable of
encouraging the owner to make friends or attract new friendships. Pets provide valuable means of social

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interaction. If a child has a pet, then there are more chances that other children will go play and talk to
them.
In addition to what Wedderburn said, status is also a reason for some to get a pet. This proves that
the way pets act reflect the attitude or the way the owners take care of them, very much alike with a
parent taking care of his or her child. For instance, when an animal looks dangerous, this reflects on its
owner. Many people subconsciously pick animals that best suit them and most reflect their status.

The Effects of Having a Pet

Physical Health
The obligation of a pet owner does not stop on just feeding their pets. These pets are also to be
entertained by their owners and it is essential to take them on a walk and go outside to play with them.
This allows pet owners to be motivated to be physically active as well as responsible, for they know that
their pets are also depending on them.
Allen K (2002) proposes that having a pet could bring about several health benefits to the owner.
Some of the said benefits were discovered through experimentations.
Pet owners and non-pet owners were given a timed math task; the results showed that the pet
owners were calmer and had a lower blood pressure as compared to the non-pet owners. Aside from this,
their blood pressure also returned to normal much quicker. Pet owners also had more stable heart rates
compared to the non-owners while performing the math task.
Thus, having a pet can help regulate the heart, which decreases the risk of heart diseases, and
improves their overall performance. This is also a possible conclusion that the lifespan of pet owners can
increase.
In the phase of growing up, minors can experience feelings of nervousness and tension brought
on by the things they encounter, which can lead to anxiety. According to Nagengast SL (1997), a study
was conducted to compare the blood pressure, heart rate and behavioral distress of healthy children with

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age ranging from 3 to 6 years old at two different doctor visits for routine physicals. A dog that was
unrelated to the children was present in one visit and was not in the other.
The results showed that when the dog was present, the children had lower blood pressure, lower
heart rates and less behavioral distress. This proves that having pets around provides an aesthetically
calming environment that gives comfort and eases anxiety.

Mental Health
Children who have pets make them responsible most especially to their duties like feeding their
pet, grooming them and more. Also, these pets helped them increase their self-esteem due to the fact that
they think their pets accept them for who and what they are.
Pets have helped most of their owners to have a positive mindset in life. Whenever they are with their
pets, they tend to forget all the stress, giving them way to relax and think more clearly.
They also have this effect on the children that makes the world light up. Light up in a way that
whenever these kids feel like nobody wanted to be with them, their pet will always remind them that there
are others that still want and love them more than what they think.

Social Health
Having the ability to socialize with others is a gift for some people. Children who usually see
something common with another person or a kid, makes them think that maybe they can be friends.
They tend to approach those kids who they can see something similar to what they have. For instance, if
the kid is in the park together with his dog, then he suddenly saw another kid with a dog probably near his
age, he tends to approach him and talk more about their pets. This concludes that having pets can possibly
build a bridge of friendship between strangers.
While a child is growing, he tends to think a lot in his mind whether the society will accept him
or not. Based on some of the experiences, having pets make them realize that they can be socially
accepted in the society they are living in. (Foster & Smith n.d) Children tend to think that their pets

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understand and love them for who they are, causing their mindset that other people think that way too.
Therefore, they are not afraid to start a conversation, make new friends, and socialize. Having pets gives
them the confidence and strength to do so.
In connection with pets ability to make a person feel more relaxed and decrease stress, although
being around family and friends can produce similar effects, pets are less likely to cause stress. The
support provided by a pet might also encourage more interaction with people, which then reduces
loneliness and feelings of isolation. An example of this would be walking a dog, which has been proven
to increase social interaction, especially with strangers, compared to walking alone.

Positive and Negative Effects

A pet brings about the best in its owner. First of all, it teaches them to be responsible. Owning a
pet is like taking care of a baby, they should be given proper love and care for them to live and grow in a
good manner.
A pet could also contribute to a childs learning. Educators have long known that bringing
therapy animals (mostly dogs) into schools helps in the learning of mentally challenged children. In one
study, these kids were asked to read in front of a peer, an adult, and a dog. (Mary Renck Jalongo, 2008)
This shows that a pet could boost ones self-confidence. They are not afraid to read out loud because they
can benefit from having a nonjudgemental pal with paws.
Animals are also a great source of comfort. Dr. Melson asked a group of 5-year-old pet owners
what they did when they felt sad, angry, afraid, or when they had a secret to share. More than 40 percent
spontaneously mentioned turning to their pets. "Kids who get support from their animal companions were
rated by their parents as less anxious and withdrawn," she says.
Dr. Melson began studying the impact of pets in order to learn how human beings

develop the

ability to care for others. "Nurturing isn't a quality that suddenly appears in adulthood when we need it,"

PETS AND CHILDREN

she says. "And you don't learn to nurture because you were nurtured as a child. People need a way to
practice being caregivers when they're young."
In our modern world, there's little opportunity for kids to provide for other living things aside
from pets. "In many other countries, siblings look after one another, but in the U.S. that's not culturally
acceptable," Dr. Melson says. "It's actually illegal in many states to leave kids in the care of anyone who
is under 16 years of age."
So how are the seeds of good parenting skills planted during childhood? Dr. Melson believes one
way is through pets. In her research, she tracked how much time kids over age 3 spent actively caring for
their pets versus caring for or even playing with younger siblings. Over a 24-hour period, pet-owning kids
spent 10.3 minutes in caregiving; those with younger sibs spent only 2.4 minutes.
"Nurturing animals is especially important for boys because taking care of an animal isn't seen
as a 'girl' thing like babysitting, playing house, or playing with dolls," Dr. Melson says. By age 8, girls
are more likely to be involved than boys in baby care both inside and outside their homes, but when it
comes to pet care, both genders remain equally involved.
Although it has many positive and beneficial effects, pets could also bring about negatives in a
person. (Choi 2011) The major negative part will be that it requires extra money. Because animals are just
like the other family members, there will be some economic cost for having pets. Second, for the animals
to grow healthy, it is the owners responsibility to take them to walk almost everyday and to help them to
have strong muscles. Third, it takes a lot of time to train dogs. Hence, it is very time consuming to raise
animals. Fourth, when a family is going to trip, they will need to find a person or place to take care of
their pet when they are gone. It is just like raising another child which might cause huge burden to the
owners.
It can also bring health problems. Zoonotic diseases could come about; this is the transmission of
infectious agents from companion animals to humans. Some people could also have allergies, which is the
damaging immune response by the body to a substance. Mammalian bites are also common, taking up
(8590% from dogs) and it mostly occurs with the household. (AFP 2012) This proves that pets can also

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affect a child in a bad way, causing some diseases that risk the childs health. But these diseases could be
prevented with the proper medications and treatment or vaccinations for the pet itself.

To conclude, having a pet serves many benefits to the owner. Children pet owners have been
proven to be less prone to mental and health illnesses such as anxiety, depression and lower blood
pressure when placed under stress. Moreover, their level of confidence increases through the support
provided by their pets, allowing them to communicate and play with other children. However, there are
still instances wherein having a pet could have its downsides, it can also cause harm to the children
through sickness and allergies.

Methodology
Participants
To gather the necessary sample for the study, the researchers will use purposive sampling, a kind
of non-probability sampling wherein researchers select groups who have particular characteristics they
like to study. In this case, those children who have pets.
The participants in the study will consist of at least 35 children, between the ages 4-12 who have
pets at home, specifically in Castilian Classics subdivision, BF Resort Village, located in Las Pias City.
This place is chosen because of its convenience and it is nearby the place where the study will be
conducted. In addition, the biological meaning of a child (plural: children) is a human between the stages
of birth and puberty. The legal definition of child generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person
younger than the age of majority.

Materials
Informed consent forms would be distributed; it composes of the purpose of the proposed
research along with the advantages and disadvantages of those who are participating. Contact information

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of the researchers would also be provided to maintain consistent communication.

Given that the participants are minors and some, specifically children below 16 are incapable of
understanding the implications of taking part in a study, Parental Consent is essential to carry out the
research effectively. Although the childs consent is advisable, the power to consent, in law, is that of
his/her parents or legal guardian. This means that parents or guardians would only allow their child to
participate if it would not interfere or meddle with their time for studying or other important matters.
The type of survey to be used will be questionnaires. Before giving out the main questionnaire,
the chosen participants would be given a sheet of paper with only one question, whether they own a pet or
not. If yes, the participant would proceed to the next level, answering questions such as: what kind of pet
do they own, how they take care of it and how important it is to them, particularly how it has changed
them. The researchers would ask these questions to find out which type of pet has given the most benefits
to the childs health, and to find out the effects of pets to these children.

Procedures
The first thing that the researchers will do is distribute the profiling questionnaire to the children
of their chosen population from Castilian Classics subdivision, BF Resort Village, located in Las Pias
City.
Those who will answer yes to the first question from the profiling, which will be: Do you have a
pet? will be considered respondents, composing at least 35 children. The type of scale that would be
used in this question would be nominal because respondents would only be given two choices: yes or no.
The second question from the profiling isWhat kind of pet do you have? The type of
questionnaire that would be used with this question would be a checklist because the respondents could
have two or more kinds of pets. The third question from the profiling would be Why do you have a
pet? the respondents would be given a list of choices and the only thing that they have to do is choose
the one they prefer and can relate to the most.

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After the administration of the profiling questionnaire, the main questionnaire will be given to the
respondents, which will answer the third research question: Does having a pet bring about a positive or
negative effect on a childs physical, mental and social health? The main questionnaire will contain
questions that connects the possible effects of their pets on their physical, mental and social health, and
the gathered information from this will then be used to determine if there is a positive or negative effect,
through the use of the statistical treatment T-test.
T-test will be used with two variables to determine a relationship as well as the effects, and in the
researchs case, to determine if having a pet have a significant role in providing either positive or negative
effects on childrens physical, mental and social health.

Discussion
There might be several limitations in this study. One would be the small sample size and the kind
of participants included in the said research. Some minors cant fully understand what the research is
about, given that some are still under the stage of puberty, they might get confused with the given
questionnaires. The second limitation would be the lack of literary sources or materials. The access to
these sources, particularly textbooks, were very limited. Probably because few people were interested in
studying the research topic. Consequentialy, researchers could take this as an advantage, because it will
pave way to introduce a new topic that could be beneficial for many people and it can be used as a
reliable source of information for future generations. The third limitation could be the time in completing
the research, it might take up a lot of time of both the researchers and the participants. To sum it up, the
study is in the proper circumstances, but the researchers want to further improve and add a new body of
knowledge to the study that would be beneficial for people, and it will make them aware about the
condition of pets and how importance it is in life, especially the children who are pet lovers.

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References

AFP, 2012. The pet effect: Health related aspects of companion. Australian Family Physician,
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Allen K, B. J. M. W., 2002. Cardiovascular reactivity and the presence of pets, friends, and
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Choi, M., 2011. Love for Dogs. [Online]
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Daniels, S., 2004. An Introduction to Pet in Wills and Pet Euthanasia.
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