Propensity Score-Matched Analysis of Longitudinal Data from Japan
With many children and young adolescents reporting strong emotional bonds with their pets, the impact of pet ownership on child/adolescent health—especially on their emotional development—has garnered increasing scientific interest.
Researchers examined the association between pet ownership in toddlerhood (age 3.5 years) and poor emotional expression in later childhood (age 5.5 years) using propensity score matching within a longitudinal cohort dataset from Japan.
The results suggest that owning pets may provide children with opportunities to control their emotions, and lead to a lower prevalence of poor emotional expression.
I invite you to read more about this study and its findings here, where you can also download a corresponding PDF.
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