CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF HUMAN-ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPS: AN EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION (PET THERAPY, AGING).
Contributors: University of Kansas.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 194
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of Keil's conceptual framework of human-animal relationships. The therapeutic potential of human-animal interaction and attachment attracted recent scientific interest. Research results were inconclusive, hampered by the lack of theoretical frameworks and a paucity of reliable and valid measures.

An initial concept analysis of the terms used to describe animals resulted in Keil's conceptual framework of human-animal relationships and the development of a six-item attitude measure of human-animal attachment with evidence to support reliability and validity. Level of attachment to animals was theorized to explain outcomes in human-animal relationships. The relationship of human-animal attachment to loneliness and stress was examined among 275 subjects from three heterogeneous community programs for the elderly.

Subjects responded to a survey that included the Human-Animal Relationship Questionnaire, factors from the Revised Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale as measures of loneliness and stress, and one-item measures of confounding and demographic variables. The Human-Animal Relationship Questionnaire was a reliable measure of attachment among these elderly subjects.

Significant Pearson correlations existed between attachment and loneliness, and between attachment and stress, but not in the hypothesized directions. As human-animal attachment increased, loneliness and stress increased. Results suggested loneliness and stress as mediators of human-animal attachment, rather than outcomes. Multiple regression analysis identified that four variables; gazing into the animal's eyes, dog ownership, stress, and perception of the animal's appearance as appealing, explained 31% of the variance of human-animal attachment. The correlation between attachment and loneliness was higher, but not significantly, for subjects without a human confidant.

These findings suggested that attachment to animals might have been an aid to coping with loneliness and stress for the elderly subjects of this study. Recommendations for future studies included efforts to increase the variability of the Human-Animal Relationship Questionnaire. A purposive sample related to confidant status was recommended. Examination of additional variables from the conceptual model was indicated.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-02, Section: B, page: 0749.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1990.

School code: 0099.