Pets Are Associated with Fewer Peer Problems and Emotional Symptoms, and Better Prosocial Behavior: Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the longitudinal association between pet ownership and children's social-emotional development. STUDY DESIGN: Two time-points of data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children were analyzed for children at ages 5 (n = 4242) and 7 (n = 4431) years. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measured children's social-emotional development. Pet ownership status and type (dog, cat, other) as well as sociodemographic and other potential confounders were collected. Longitudinal panel regression models were used. RESULTS: Overall, 27% of children had abnormal scores on 1 or more SDQ scales. By age 7, 75% of children had pets with ownership highest in single-child households. Owning any type of pet was associated with decreased odds of abnormal scores for emotional symptoms (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.99), peer problems (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.60-0.84), and prosocial behavior (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.38-0.70), compared with non-pet owners. Dog ownership was associated with decreased odds of abnormal scores on any of the SDQ scales (OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71-0.93). For children without any siblings, only the prosocial behavior scale was significantly associated with pet ownership (OR, 0.21; 95% CI, 0.07-0.66). In longitudinal models, cat-only and dog-only groups were associated with fewer emotional symptoms and peer problems compared with non-pet owners. CONCLUSIONS: Early school age is an important period for family pet acquisition. Pets may protect children from developing social-emotional problems and should be taken into account when assessing child development and school readiness. Children without siblings may benefit most in terms of their prosocial behavior.

Quality of childcare influences children's attentiveness and emotional regulation at school entry.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between domain-specific qualities of formal childcare at age 2-3 years and children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation at age 4-5 and 6-7 years. STUDY DESIGN: We used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (n = 1038). Three domain-specific aspects of childcare quality were assessed: provider and program characteristics of care, activities in childcare, and carer-child relationship. Two self-regulatory abilities were considered: task attentiveness and emotional regulation. Associations between domain-specific qualities of childcare and self-regulation were investigated in linear regression analyses adjusted for confounding, with imputation for missing data. RESULTS: There was no association between any provider or program characteristics of care and children's task attentiveness and emotional regulation. The quality of activities in childcare were associated only with higher levels of emotional regulation at age 4-5 years (ß = 0.24; 95% CI, 0.03-0.44) and 6-7 years (ß = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.04-0.48). Higher-quality carer-child relationships were associated with higher levels of task attentiveness (ß = 0.20; 95% CI, 0.05-0.36) and emotional regulation at age 4-5 years (ß = 0.19; 95% CI, 0.04-0.34) that persisted to age 6-7 years (ß = 0.26; 95% CI, 0.10-0.42; ß = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.16-0.47). CONCLUSION: Among children using formal childcare, those who experienced higher-quality relationships were better able to regulate their attention and emotions as they started school. Higher emotional regulation was also observed for children engaged in more activities in childcare. Beneficial effects were stable over time.

The long-term effects of breastfeeding on child and adolescent mental health: a pregnancy cohort study followed for 14 years.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether there was an independent effect of breastfeeding on child and adolescent mental health. STUDY DESIGN: The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study recruited 2900 pregnant women and followed the live births for 14 years. Mental health status was assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) at 2, 6, 8, 10, and 14 years. Maternal pregnancy, postnatal, and infant factors were tested in multivariable random effects models and generalized estimating equations to examine the effects of breastfeeding duration on mental health morbidity. RESULTS: Breastfeeding for less than 6 months compared with 6 months or longer was an independent predictor of mental health problems through childhood and into adolescence. This relationship was supported by the random effects models (increase in total CBCL score: 1.45; 95% confidence interval 0.59, 2.30) and generalized estimating equation models (odds ratio for CBCL morbidity: 1.33; 95% confidence interval 1.09, 1.62) showing increased behavioral problems with shorter breastfeeding duration. CONCLUSION: A shorter duration of breastfeeding may be a predictor of adverse mental health outcomes throughout the developmental trajectory of childhood and early adolescence.

Hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and the development of behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence: the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether maternal gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are associated with behavioral problems in offspring throughout childhood and early adolescence. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2804 women in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study and their children observed at age 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to measure problem child behavior with continuous z-scores and clinical cutoff points. Control variables included known biomedical, sociodemographic, and psychological factors. RESULTS: After adjustment, with general linear model analyses children of women with gestational hypertension were shown to be more likely to have higher CBCL z-scores, indicative of poorer behavior, from 8 years on, with the largest difference seen at 14 years. Children of mothers with preeclampsia were more likely to have lower CBCL z-scores, indicative of pro-social behaviors. The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that gestational hypertension was predictive of clinically significant CBCL T-scores from age 8 to 14 years. This association was significant for externalizing behavior, such as delinquent and aggressive behavior, and for internalizing behavior at age 14 years. Unexpectedly, preeclampsia reduced internalizing morbidity at ages 5 and 8 years. CONCLUSIONS: The opposing effect on child and adolescent behavior of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia warrants further attention.

Comparisons of problems reported by youths from seven countries.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared ratings for self-reported behavioral and emotional problems in adolescents from seven countries. METHOD: Youth Self-Report scores were analyzed for 7,137 adolescents ages 11-18 years from general population samples from Australia, China, Israel, Jamaica, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United States. RESULTS: Comparisons of problems scores yielded small to medium effect sizes for cross-cultural variations. Youths from China and Jamaica had the highest and youths from Israel and Turkey had the lowest mean total problems scores. With cross-cultural consistency, girls scored higher for internalizing and lower for externalizing than boys. Cross-cultural correlations were high among the mean item scores. CONCLUSIONS: Empirically based assessment provided a robust method for assessing and comparing adolescents' self-reported problems. Self-reports thus supplemented empirically based assessments of parent-reported problems and offered a cost-effective way of identifying problems for which adolescents from diverse cultural backgrounds may need help.