St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • University of St Andrews Research
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Sociodemographics of pet ownership among adolescents in Great Britain : findings from the HBSC Study in England, Scotland, and Wales

Thumbnail
View/Open
Marsa_Sambola_2016_Sociodemographics_Anthrozoos_AAM.pdf (782.9Kb)
Date
30/12/2016
Author
Marsa-Sambola, Ferran
Williams, Joanne
Muldoon, Janine
Lawrence, Alistair
Connor, Melanie
Roberts, Chris
Brooks, Fiona
Currie, Candace
Funder
Dept for Environment Food and Rural Aff
Grant ID
AW1407
Keywords
Adolescents
Family
Great Britain
Pet ownership
Socio-demographics
Animal Science and Zoology
Anthropology
Education
Sociology and Political Science
veterinary (miscalleneous)
NDAS
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of pet ownership among adolescents in Great Britain and identify any sociodemographic differences between pet owners and non-pet owners. A total of 14,328 11-to 15-year-old adolescents from England, Scotland, and Wales were included in the analysis. Results revealed 15-year-old adolescents were significantly more likely than 11-year-old adolescents to own dogs (OR = 1.146, p < 0.001) but less likely to own fish, reptiles, or amphibians (OR = 0.629, p < 0.001), and small mammals (OR = 0.630, p < 0.001). Thirteen-year-olds were significantly more likely than 11-year-olds to own dogs (OR = 1.240, p = 0.021) and birds (OR = 1.299, p = 0.010), but significantly less likely to own fish, reptiles, or amphibians (OR = 0.795, p < 0.001). No gender differences were found. White adolescents were more likely than non-white adolescents to own all pet types. Those living in single-parent families were significantly more likely than those living with two parents to own dogs (OR = 1.186, p = 0.013) and cats (OR = 1.319, p < 0.001). Furthermore, those who reported living in stepfamilies were also more likely to own cats (OR = 1.428, p < 0.001). Adolescents with siblings were more likely to own cats (OR = 1.391, p = 0.001), fish, reptiles, or amphibians (OR = 1.220, p = 0.037) than adolescents without siblings. Adolescents with employed parents (both or one) were significantly more likely than those with unemployed parents to own dogs (OR = 1.414, p = 0.002) and birds (OR = 1.523, p = 0.018). Adolescents from high-affluence families were less likely than adolescents from low-affluence families to own dogs (OR = 0.888, p = 0.037), small mammals (OR = 0.832, p = 0.005), and birds (OR = 0.801, p = 0.046). Furthermore, family affluence differences were found in different pet types. Differences in all pet types and siblings were also found in a proxy measure of attachment to pets. This study provides evidence that pet ownership is related to several sociodemographic factors. These are relevant to take into account when performing HAI studies on adolescents.
Citation
Marsa-Sambola , F , Williams , J , Muldoon , J , Lawrence , A , Connor , M , Roberts , C , Brooks , F & Currie , C 2016 , ' Sociodemographics of pet ownership among adolescents in Great Britain : findings from the HBSC Study in England, Scotland, and Wales ' , Anthrozoös , vol. 29 , no. 4 , pp. 559-580 . https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2016.1228756
Publication
Anthrozoös
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2016.1228756
ISSN
0892-7936
Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, ISAZ. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at www.tandfonline.com / http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2016.1228756
Description
This study presents findings from the first stage of a three-year project (“An investigation of 13–17- year-olds’ attitudes and behaviour to animals and development and testing of interventions to promote the concept of Duty of Care” -SMDO-ZGLD15) that aims to ascertain the most effective ways to promote a duty of care (DOC) towards animals among children and young people. The project was instigated by a call from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for research in this area in line with recent changes in animal welfare law.
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/13475

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter