Biomaterial Database

Children's drawings and attachment to pets. 1995

A H Kidd, and R M Kidd

Center for Animals in Society, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis, USA.

To help confirm the concept that distances placed between the self and other figures in children's drawings represent emotional distances, 242 pet-owning and 35 nonpet-owning kindergartners through eighth graders drew pictures of themselves, a pet, and/or a family member. Owners drew pets significantly closer than family-figures although the younger the child, the greater the distance between self and pet. Older children drew themselves holding pets significantly more often, but younger children placed the family-figure between the self and the pet significantly more often. There were no significant gender differences in self-figure/pet-figure distances, but cats, dogs, caged animals, and farm animals were placed significantly closer to self-figures than were fish. Over-all, owners were clearly emotionally closer to pets than to family members, but nonowners were as close emotionally to family members as were owners.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D001841	Human-Animal Bond	The emotional attachment of individuals to animals.	Animal-Human Bonding,Bonding, Human-Pet,Human-Animal Bonding,Human-Pet Bonding,Pet-Human Bonding,Animal Human Bonding,Animal-Human Bondings,Bond, Human-Animal,Bonding, Animal-Human,Bonding, Human Pet,Bonding, Human-Animal,Bonding, Pet-Human,Bondings, Animal-Human,Bondings, Human-Pet,Bonds, Human-Animal,Human Animal Bond,Human Animal Bonding,Human Pet Bonding,Human-Animal Bondings,Human-Animal Bonds,Human-Pet Bondings
D002415	Cats	The domestic cat, Felis catus, of the carnivore family FELIDAE, comprising over 30 different breeds. The domestic cat is descended primarily from the wild cat of Africa and extreme southwestern Asia. Though probably present in towns in Palestine as long ago as 7000 years, actual domestication occurred in Egypt about 4000 years ago. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th ed, p801)	Felis catus,Felis domesticus,Domestic Cats,Felis domestica,Felis sylvestris catus,Cat,Cat, Domestic,Cats, Domestic,Domestic Cat
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D004285	Dogs	The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, comprising about 400 breeds, of the carnivore family CANIDAE. They are worldwide in distribution and live in association with people. (Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, p1065)	Canis familiaris,Dog
D005190	Family	A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.	Family Life Cycles,Family Members,Family Life Cycle,Family Research,Filiation,Kinship Networks,Relatives,Families,Family Member,Kinship Network,Life Cycle, Family,Life Cycles, Family,Network, Kinship,Networks, Kinship,Research, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D005783	Gender Identity	A person's concept of self as being male and masculine or female and feminine, or ambivalent, based in part on physical characteristics, parental responses, and psychological and social pressures. It is the internal experience of gender role.	Gender,Gender Identities,Identity, Gender
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man