More engagement with a childhood pet may predict stronger nature connection in adultsThis article compared the findings of two studies that examined associations between pet ownership and connection to nature in children and adults. The studies tested three hypotheses: (1) Children who own pets in childhood will have higher levels of connection to nature than non-pet owners. (2) Adults who owned pets in childhood will have higher levels of connection to nature than non-pet owners. (3) Higher levels of interaction with the companion animal will be associated with higher connection to nature. The overarching aim of these two studies was to find out if children who own pets have stronger connections to nature in childhood, adulthood, or both.
The authors tested these hypotheses by conducting two related studies of children (study 1) and adults (study 2) in the United Kingdom. The first study recruited 64 children (age 6-16) who completed a Nature Connection Index and Companion Animal Bonding scale while providing background information on their pet ownership, age, and sex. The second study recruited 353 adults who completed the Connection to Nature Scale and Companion Animal Bonding Scale measures. The authors then computed average nature connection scores for pet owners and non-pet owners that also accounted for participants’ age, gender, and their level of engagement with pets as children. Further statistical analysis then allowed them to determine if any differences between these groups were statistically significant or not.
The study’s mixed results led to the authors rejecting most of their hypotheses about the relationships between childhood pet ownership and connection to nature. The statistical analysis did not establish a significant difference in connection to nature scores in either children or adults who own(ed) pets in childhood compared to those who did not own pets. Children’s level of engagement with pets—that is, the extent to which they indicated feeding, grooming, and talking, sleeping, and playing with their pet—had no significant effect on children’s connection to nature but correlated with significantly higher connection with nature scores in adults who owned pets as children. Additional findings included a gender effect: females who had childhood pets reported strong connection to nature than males in both childhood and adulthood. Other statistical comparisons concluded that type of pet was not a significant factor in this study’s results.
Comparing these studies suggests that pet ownership alone does not have a significant effect on children’s or adults’ connections to nature. However, more extensive interactions and engagements with a childhood pet are associated with stronger connections to nature in adulthood. Thus, there’s some reason to believe that encouraging children’s active relationships with pets may result in stronger connections to nature later in life even if it doesn’t initially increase their connections to nature.
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