From infancy through old age, many people's lives are enriched by the love of a pet. In addition, both volunteer and trained service animals are an increasingly common sight as they participate in hospital, school, and nursing home visitation and therapeutic programs. Yet, there has been little scientific research on the role that pets and therapeutic animals play in our health and development. While animal-assisted therapies appear promising, they often lack solid evidence of effectiveness. More research is therefore needed to understand the effects of human amp ndash animal interaction (HAI) and to optimize the value of this interaction.
The findings in this volume deepen our understanding of human and animal behavior, including the impact that pets can have on children's development and the efficacy of animal-assisted therapies. This volume first addresses HAI research methodology, including recommended research designs, terminology, and topics for further exploration. It then summarizes the progress of HAI research in child development and human health, including how young children think about animals, links between children's early abuse of animals and later conduct disorders, the association between pet ownership and better health, and whether such health improvements result in health cost savings. The volume ends with a detailed agenda for future research.
With its interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to a wide range of researchers and practitioners interested in what happens when people meet and engage with animals.
Table of Contents:
Contributors
Foreword
Mark T. Greenberg
Acknowledgments
Human amp ndash Animal Interaction Research: An Introduction to Issues and Topics
James A. Griffin, Sandra McCune, Valerie Maholmes, and Karyl Hurley
Part I: Methodology
Chapter : Principles for Human amp ndash Animal Interaction Research
Gail F. Melson
Chapter 2: Establishing the Effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Therapies: Methodological Standards, Issues, and Strategies
Alan E. Kazdin
Chapter 3: Promises and Pitfalls of Hormone Research in Human amp ndash Animal Interaction
Kerstin Uvn amp auml s-Moberg, Linda Handlin, and Maria Petersson
Part II: Human amp ndash Animal Interaction and Child Development
Chapter 4: How Very Young Children Think About Animals
Judy S. DeLoache, Megan Bloom Pickard, and Vanessa LoBue
Chapter 5: The Other Side of the Bond: Domestic Dogs' Human-Like Behaviors
Clive D. L. Wynne, Nicole R. Dorey, and Monique A. R. Udell
Chapter : Animal Abuse and Developmental Psychopathology
Frank R. Ascione and Mika Maruyama
Part III: Human amp ndash Animal Interaction and Human Health
Chapter 7: Childhood Obesity and Human amp ndash Animal Interaction
Jo Salmon and Anna Timperio
Chapter 8: Health Correlates of Pet Ownership From National Surveys
Bruce Headey and Markus Grabka
Chapter 9: Physiological Correlates of Health Benefits From Pets
Erika Friedmann, Sandra B. Barker, and Karen M. Allen
Chapter : Animal-Assisted Intervention in Health Care Contexts
Rebecca A. Johnson
Afterword: An Agenda for Future Research
Peggy McCardle, Sandra McCune, Layla Esposito, Valerie Maholmes, and Lisa Freund
Appendix: A Resource for Studying Human amp ndash Animal Interaction
Tim Adams
Index
About the Editors
