Human-Animal Interaction as a Context for Positive Youth Development: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach to Constructing Human-Animal Interaction Theory and Research

Abstract

Human-animal relationships are both ubiquitous and diverse across the life span, and may be especially salient among children and adolescents. Although research into youth involvement in human-animal interaction (HAI) is growing, existing data have not adequately explored the developmental processes associated with HAI. The purpose of this article is to discuss why relational developmental systems models, which explore bidirectional influences between individuals and their contexts, constitute a useful paradigm for addressing the challenges and complexities in research pertaining to human-animal relations, particularly in the study of positive youth development. Recommendations are presented for building the field of youth HAI research through expanding the exploration of animal relationships in ways that may serve to promote trajectories of positive development across childhood and adolescence.

Evaluating the Impact of a Humane Education Summer-Camp Program on School-Aged Children's Relationships with Companion Animals

“…We also examined gender and age differences. In this way, our results make a unique contribution because relatively few studies have distinguished between types of animals involved in HEPs (Melson 2013a(Melson , 2013bMueller 2014a), and/or examined gender-and age-related outcomes when evaluating the impact of HEPs for young children (Arbour, Signal and Taylor 2009).…”

“…Extant studies often show a lack of methodological rigor (Arbour, Signal and Taylor 2009), and researchers need to investigate the influence of various methods and contexts used to deliver humane education to children and youth (Esposito et al 2011;Mueller 2014a). Research is needed to explore the impact of program duration and intensity (e.g., one-time visit, multiple visits), format (e.g., printed, media presentations), materials (i.e., lecture, interactive, games), and the contexts (e.g., classroom-, home-, camp-or excursion-based; e.g., see Beck et al 2001;Bexell et al 2009) used to deliver humane education to children and youth.…”

“…Further, most studies do not distinguish between the types of animals involved in a HEP such as companion, farm, or forest animals (Melson 2013a(Melson , 2013bMueller 2014a). Research is needed that examines the impact of HEPs involving various types of animals, and the potential for HEPs that are delivered in more natural and dynamic (i.e., camp-based) environments to promote empathy and positive attitudes toward animals and humans (Olin 1996;Faber Taylor and Kuo 2006;Aguirre and Orihuela 2010;Bekoff 2014;Crain 2014).…”

Preadolescents’ relationships with pet dogs: Relationship continuity and associations with adjustment

“…Pets are described by children in ways that suggest they can provide many of the benefits of friendship such as companionship, affection, social interaction, emotional support, and esteem enhancement (e.g., Triebenbacher, 1998; McNicholas & Collis, 2000; Morrow, 1998). Pets are also credited with reducing children’s stress (Covert, Whiren, Keith, & Nelson, 1985; Guerney, 1991) and enhancing children’s emotion regulation (Bryant & Donnellan, 2007; Mueller, 2014). Finally, children often report that they receive unconditional love from their pets, especially dogs (Morrow, 1998).…”

“…It has been speculated that children can receive emotional benefits from having pets, which could enhance their social and emotional adjustment and social skills such as empathy (McNicholas et al, 2005; Melson, 2011; Mueller, 2014; Walsh, 2009). Prior studies of the quality of children’s relationships with pets and child adjustment have, however, produced mixed results.…”