The mental health effects of pet death during childhood: is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?

Pet ownership is common. Growing evidence suggests children form deep emotional attachments to their pets. Yet, little is known about children's emotional reactions to a pet's death. The goal of this study was to describe the relationship between experiences of pet death and risk of childhood psycho...

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Publicado en:European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 30; no. 10; pp. 1547 - 1559
Autores principales: Crawford, Katherine M., Zhu, Yiwen, Davis, Kathryn A., Ernst, Samantha, Jacobsson, Kristina, Nishimi, Kristen, Smith, Andrew D. A. C., Dunn, Erin C.
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature Oct2021
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: The mental health effects of pet death during childhood: is it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
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          Crawford, Katherine M.
          Zhu, Yiwen
          Davis, Kathryn A.
          Ernst, Samantha
          Jacobsson, Kristina
          Nishimi, Kristen
          Smith, Andrew D. A. C.
          Dunn, Erin C.
        affil: Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Mental Health
          Pets
          Death
          Mental Disorders Risk Factors
          Risk Assessment
          Human-Pet Bonding
          Human
          Child
          Depression
          Psychopathology
          Multivariate Analysis
          Linear Regression
          Confidence Intervals
          Male
          Female
          Sex Factors
          Psychological Trauma
          Bereavement
          United Kingdom
          Child: 6-12 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Pet ownership is common. Growing evidence suggests children form deep emotional attachments to their pets. Yet, little is known about children's emotional reactions to a pet's death. The goal of this study was to describe the relationship between experiences of pet death and risk of childhood psychopathology and determine if it was "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all". Data came from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a UK-based prospective birth cohort (n = 6260). Children were characterized based on their exposure to pet ownership and pet death from birth to age 7 (never loved;loved without loss; loved with loss). Psychopathology symptoms at age 8 were compared across groups using multivariable linear regression. Psychopathology symptoms were higher among children who had loved with loss compared to those who had loved without loss (β = 0.35, p = 0.013; 95% CI = 0.07, 0.63), even after adjustment for other adversities. This group effect was more pronounced in males than in females. There was no difference in psychopathology symptoms between children who had loved with loss and those who had never loved (β = 0.20, p = 0.31, 95% CI = −0.18–0.58). The developmental timing, recency, or accumulation of pet death was unassociated with psychopathology symptoms. Pet death may be traumatic for children and associated with subsequent mental health difficulties. Where childhood pet ownership and pet bereavement is concerned, Tennyson's pronouncement may not apply to children's grief responses: it may not be "better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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