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Psychosocial Impact Of Pet Keeping On Schoolchildren In China, Yanxia Song, Toshiya Hirose, Naoko Koda
Psychosocial Impact Of Pet Keeping On Schoolchildren In China, Yanxia Song, Toshiya Hirose, Naoko Koda
People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice
Studies in Western countries have demonstrated the benefits of pets for humans. However, there are not many studies on human-pet relationships in different cultures and societies; for example, few in Asia. This questionnaire survey demonstrated that attachment to pets benefits the psychosocial development of schoolchildren aged 9 to 16 years (n = 599: 340 boys and 259 girls, 284 rural students and 315 urban students) in Hunan Province, central south China. Children with higher attachment to their pets scored higher on the scales of self-efficacy and empathy than those with lower attachment and those who had no pets. Moreover, girls …