Abstract
Adolescence is a prime developmental period to explore human-pet relationships and social competence, given that teens are becoming more autonomous, focusing on other attachment figures such as peers, romantic partners, and pets. Social technology is another salient developmental forum for enacting socially competent behaviors. Given the amount of time spent with social technologies (e.g., texting, gaming, browsing) in the adolescent years, we predicted strong associations between the quality of human-pet relationships, social competence, and social technology use. We analyzed a sample of 700 middle school students aged 11–16 (average age = 12.7) in the Northeast. We used logistic and linear regression models to explore how pet companionship is associated with social technology use and the quality of online social connections Adolescents with dog companions were more likely to check social media more frequently, give and receive online social support, and feel less social isolation. The more time spent with a pet, the more likely the adolescent played online games for leisure and browsed the Internet about animals. The more attached one was to a pet companion, the more likely an adolescent provided and received online social support.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Pet Products Association, Inc. (2020). APPA national pet owners survey (2019–2020). Retrieved from https://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp
Brandtstädter, J. (1998). Action perspectives on human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 807–863). New York: Wiley.
Brinthaupt, T. M., & Lipka, R. P. (2012). Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions. New York: SUNY Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Burke, M., Marlow, C., & Lento, T. (2010). Social network activity and social well-being. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1909–1912.
Charmaraman, L., Bickham, D., & Sode, O. (2020). Adolescent mental health challenges in the digital world. In M. Moreno & A. Hoopes (Eds.), Technology and adolescent health behavior: In school and beyond (pp. 283–304). San Deigo: Elsevier Publishing.
Charmaraman, L., Richer, A., Leu, R., Suleyman, N., & Moreno, M. (2018). Adolescent social media use and body image: Associations with depression, social anxiety, and peers. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Charmaraman, L., Richer, A., & Moreno, M. A. (2018). Psychosocial and physical health associations of early social media use before age 12. Paper presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, Toronto, Canada.
Colder Carras, M., Van Rooij, A. J., Van de Mheen, D., Musci, R., Xue, Q., & Mendelson, T. (2017). Video gaming in a hyperconnected world: A cross-sectional study of heavy gaming, problematic gaming symptoms, and online socializing in adolescents. Computers in Human Behavior, 68, 472–479.
Covert, A., Whiren, A. P., Keith, J., & Nelson, C. (1985). Pets, early adolescents, and families. Marriage & Family Review, 8(3–4), 95–108.
Dodge, K. A., Dishion, T. J., & Lansford, J. E. (2006). Deviant peer influences in intervention and public policy for youth. Social Policy Report, 20, 3–19.
Fine, A. H., Tedeschi, P., & Elvove, E. (2015). Forward thinking: The evolving field of human–animal interactions. In A. H. Fine (Ed.), Handbook on animal-assisted therapy (pp. 21–35). Amsterdam: Academic Press.
Henderson, L., & Zimbardo, P. (1998). Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Jacobson, K. C., & Chang, L. (2018). Associations between pet ownership and attitudes toward pets with youth socioemotional outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2304.
Johnson, T. P., Garrity, T. F., & Stallones, L. (1995). Psychometric evaluation of the lexington attachment to pets scale (LAPS). Anthrozoös: A multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals, 5(3), 160–175.
Kertes, D. A., Liu, J., Hall, N. J., Hadad, N. A., Wynne, C. D., & Bhatt, S. S. (2017). Effect of pet dogs on children's perceived stress and cortisol stress response. Social Development, 26(2), 382–401.
Kidd, A. H., & Kidd, R. M. (1985). Children's attitudes toward their pets. Psychological Reports, 57, 15–31.
Kim, J., & Lee, J. E. (2011). The Facebook paths to happiness: Effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being. CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 14, 359–364.
Kraut, R., Kiesler, S., Boneva, B., Cummings, J. N., Helgeson, V., & Crawford, A. M. (2002). Internet paradox revisited. Journal of Social Issues, 58(1), 49–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00248.
Lee, E., & Cho, E. (2018). When using Facebook to avoid isolation reduces perceived social support. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 21(1), 32–39.
Lee, K. T., Noh, M. J., & Koo, D. M. (2013). Lonely people are no longer lonely on social networking sites: The mediating role of self-disclosure and social support. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 16, 413–418.
McConnell, A. R., Lloyd, E. P., & Buchanan, T. M. (2017). Animals as friends: Social psychological implications of human–pet relationships. In M. Hojjat & A. Moyer (Eds.), Psychology of friendship (pp. 157–174). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McConnell, A. R., Paige Lloyd, E., & Humphrey, B. T. (2019). We are family: Viewing pets as family members improves wellbeing. Anthrozoös, 32(4), 459–470.
McKenna, K. Y., Green, A. S., & Gleason, M. E. (2002). Relationship formation on the Internet: what's the big attraction? Journal of Social Issues, 58, 9–31.
Melson, G. F. (1988). Availability of and involvement with pets by children: Determinants and correlates. Anthrozoös, 2, 45–52.
Melson, G. F. (2001). Why the wild things are: Animals in the lives of children. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mueller, M. K. (2014). Is human-animal interaction (HAI) linked to positive youth development? Initial answers. Applied Developmental Science, 18(1), 5–16.
Mueller, M. K., & Callina, K. S. (2014). Human-animal interaction as a context for thriving and coping in military-connected youth: The role of pets during deployment. Applied Developmental Science, 18(4), 214–223.
Nelson, L. J., Coyne, S. M., Howard, E., & Clifford, B. N. (2016). Withdrawing to a virtual world: Associations between subtypes of withdrawal, media use, and maladjustment in emerging adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 52(6), 933–942.
Oh, H. J., Ozkaya, E., & LaRose, R. (2014). How does online social networking enhance life satisfaction? The relationships among online supportive interaction, affect, perceived social support, sense of community, and life satisfaction. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 69–78.
Overton, W. F. (2010). Life-span development: Concepts and issues. In W. R. Overton & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Cognition, biology, and methods across the life span: Handbook of life-span development (Vol. 1, pp. 1–29). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Overton, W. F. (2011). Relational developmental systems and quantitative behavior genetics: Alternative of parallel methodologies. Research in Human Development, 8(3–4), 258–263.
Overton, W. F., & Müller, U. (2012). Meta-theories, theories, and concepts in the study of development. In R. M. Lerner, M. A. Easterbrooks, J. Mistry, & I. B. Weiner (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology: Developmental psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 19–58). New York: Wiley.
Purewal, R., Christley, R., Kordas, K., Joinson, C., Meints, K., Gee, N., et al. (2017). Companion animals and child/adolescent development: A systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3), 234–259.
Risley-Curtiss, C. (2010). Social work practitioners and the human-companion animal bond: A national study. Social Work, 55(1), 38–46.
Roberts, L. D., Smith, L. M., & Pollock, C. M. (2000). “U r a lot bolder on the net”: Shyness and internet use. In W. R. Crozier (Ed.), Shyness: Development, consolidation and change (pp. 121–138). New York: Routledge.
Segrin, C. (2005). Communication and the study of personal well-being. International Communication Gazette, 67, 547–549.
Sheldon, P. (2008). The relationship between unwillingness-to communicate and students’ Facebook use. Journal of Media Psychology, 20, 67–75. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105.20.2.67.
Tufekci, Z. (2008). Grooming, gossip, Facebook and MySpace. Information, Communication & Society, 11, 544–564.
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. New York: Basic Books.
Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Online communication and adolescent wellbeing: Testing the stimulation versus the displacement hypothesis. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1169–1182. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00368.x.
Van Houtte, B., & Jarvis, P. A. (1995). The role of pets in preadolescent psychosocial development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 16(3), 463–479.
Williams, D. (2006). From tree house to barracks: The social life of guilds in world of warcraft. Games and Culture, 1(4), 338–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412006292616.
Acknowledgements
This work was funded by Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development and the Nan May Holstein New Horizons Award from the Wellesley Centers for Women to the first author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Charmaraman, L., Mueller, M.K. & Richer, A.M. The Role of Pet Companionship in Online and Offline Social Interactions in Adolescence. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 37, 589–599 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00707-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-020-00707-y