ABSTRACT Adult attitudes toward animals have received extensive research attention. By contrast, despite the importance of child–animal interactions for children’s development and animal welfare, children’s attitudes toward animals have not been fully explored. The aim of this study was, therefore, to examine Spanish children’s attitudes toward animals. A 12-item scale, the Brief Attitudes Towards Animals scale for Children (BATAC), was designed and completed by 416 Spanish primary school children aged between 6 and 13 years. Analyses revealed that the attitude scale had very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s a = 0.75; Revelle’s omega = 0.75; Sijtsma’s glb = 0.84) and three factors labelled “Compassion,” “Friendship,” and “Opinion on Ownership” explained 56.47% of the variance. The subscales were used in subsequent analyses alongside the total score. Demographic variables, such as age, school year group, ownership of a companion animal, and children’s beliefs about animal mind, were shown to be associated with children’s attitudes toward animals. Being older, in a higher school year, having a dog or a small mammal at home, and scoring animals higher on sentience capabilities were associated with higher pro-animal attitudes. Other pet types (i.e., cats, birds, reptiles or fish) and children’s gender were not associated with attitudes to animals. This study is the first to explore attitudes toward animals among Spanish primary school children, and it highlights attitudinal differences regarding animal species and child demographic variables.

中文翻译：

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西班牙小学生对动物的态度

摘要 成人对动物的态度受到了广泛的研究关注。相比之下，尽管儿童与动物的互动对儿童的发展和动物福利很重要，但儿童对动物的态度尚未得到充分探讨。因此，这项研究的目的是检查西班牙儿童对动物的态度。由 416 名 6 至 13 岁的西班牙小学生设计并完成了 12 项量表，即儿童对动物的简要态度量表 (BATAC)。分析表明态度量表具有很好的内部一致性（Cronbach a = 0.75；Revelle's omega = 0.75；Sijtsma's glb = 0.84），“同情”、“友谊”和“对所有权的看法”三个因素解释了56.47%的态度。方差。这些子量表与总分一起用于后续分析。人口统计学变量，例如年龄、学年组、伴侣动物的所有权以及儿童对动物心理的信念，被证明与儿童对动物的态度有关。年龄越大，在上学年，家里有一只狗或一只小型哺乳动物，以及在感知能力上得分越高的动物，与更高的亲动物态度有关。其他宠物类型（即猫、鸟、爬行动物或鱼）和儿童的性别与对动物的态度无关。这项研究是第一个探讨西班牙小学生对动物态度的研究，它强调了对动物物种和儿童人口统计变量的态度差异。伴侣动物的所有权，以及儿童对动物心理的信念，被证明与儿童对动物的态度有关。年龄越大，在上学年，家里有一只狗或一只小型哺乳动物，以及在感知能力上得分越高的动物，与更高的亲动物态度有关。其他宠物类型（即猫、鸟、爬行动物或鱼）和儿童的性别与对动物的态度无关。这项研究是第一个探讨西班牙小学生对动物态度的研究，它强调了对动物物种和儿童人口统计变量的态度差异。伴侣动物的所有权，以及儿童对动物心理的信念，被证明与儿童对动物的态度有关。年龄越大，在上学年，家里有一只狗或一只小型哺乳动物，以及在感知能力上得分越高的动物，与更高的亲动物态度有关。其他宠物类型（即猫、鸟、爬行动物或鱼）和儿童的性别与对动物的态度无关。这项研究是第一个探讨西班牙小学生对动物态度的研究，它强调了对动物物种和儿童人口统计变量的态度差异。动物在感知能力上得分较高与亲动物态度较高有关。其他宠物类型（即猫、鸟、爬行动物或鱼）和儿童的性别与对动物的态度无关。这项研究是第一个探讨西班牙小学生对动物态度的研究，它强调了对动物物种和儿童人口统计变量的态度差异。动物在感知能力上得分较高与亲动物态度较高有关。其他宠物类型（即猫、鸟、爬行动物或鱼）和儿童的性别与对动物的态度无关。这项研究是第一个探讨西班牙小学生对动物态度的研究，它强调了对动物物种和儿童人口统计变量的态度差异。