Attachment to Pets among Eighth Graders

The Pet Attachment Survey (PAS) developed by the University of Minnesota's Center to Study Human-Animal Relationships and Environments (CENSHARE) and a demographic survey developed by the researcher were administered to eighth graders in two rural public schools and one urban public school in northern Utah during spring 1988. Gender and residence PAS scores were analyzed (N=490) utilizing a 2 by 2 analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine significant differences in attachment to pet cats and dogs among urban and rural, male and female students. Results indicated that urban children were more attached to their pets than were rural children. However, there were no significant differences in attachment to pets between males and females. The demographic survey results (N=656) indicated that the most common demographic variable among the children studied was the experience of having a pet at some point in their lives. These findings indicated that pets were an integral part of pet-owning children's development that represent an important component in the construct of attachment.