Studies Reveal Pet Loss Can Potentially Cause Mental Health Problems in Children | Health and Medical News

Boston: Pet owners usually have a strong emotional connection with their pets, but new research shows that pet death causes deep grief in children, which can be serious and long-term, followed by mental health. It can lead to problems.

A new study published in European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) found that strong emotional attachment to children can be a measure of psychology in children and adolescents as an indicator of depression. It has been more than three years since I lost my beloved pet, which I discovered could cause emotional distress.

“One of the first major losses a child encounters is likely to be the death of the pet, and the effects can be traumatic, especially when the pet feels like a member of the family. Death experiences have often been found to be relevant as children’s mental health symptoms increase and parents and doctors need to be seriously aware of and deal with these symptoms, not just to wipe them out. “Previously at MGH’s Center for Genomic Medicine, lead author Catherine Crawford said. Investigation.

About half of households in developed countries have at least one pet. And, as MGH investigators reported, the bonds that children form with their pets are similar to safe relationships in that they provide affection, protection, and peace of mind.

In addition, previous studies have shown that children often rely on pets for comfort and aloud fear and emotional experiences. The empathy, self-esteem, and social abilities that often result from this interaction are clearly beneficial, but the drawbacks were found in an MGH study: children’s exposure to pet death was found in children with pets in the first 7 years of life. It occurs in 63% of us.

Previous studies have focused on the consequences of adult attachment to pets and animal death. The MGH team was the first team to investigate a child’s mental health response. Their analysis is based on a sample of 6,260 children from the Avon Longitudinal Parent-Child Study (ALSPAC) in Bristol, England.

This population-based sample is rich in data collected from mothers and children, allowing researchers to track their early pet ownership and loss experiences in children up to the age of eight.

“Thanks to this cohort, we were able to analyze the mental and emotional health of our children after investigating their experiences with pet death over time, and we were exposed to pet death. And observed an association between childhood psychopathological symptoms, regardless of the child’s socio-economic status or the difficulties already endured in childhood, “Erindan, ScD, MPH said. He spoke with the Center for Genomic Medicine and Psychiatry, as well as the lead author of the study.

Researchers also found that the relationship between pet death and increased psychopathology was more pronounced in men than in women’s children-a finding that surprised them in the light of previous studies-and the strength of the association. The number of occurrences in childhood and the number of occurrences were independent of the time of death of the pet.

According to Dan, this latter finding speaks of “the persistence of bonds with pets that form at a very early age, and how it can affect children through their development.” I will.

The MGH study emphasized the importance of parents, caregivers, and pediatricians who recognize and take children’s short-term and long-term psychological reactions to pet death seriously-loss of other important things. A reaction family member who can mimic the child’s reaction to.

“Adults need to pay attention to whether their emotions are deeper and deeper, and whether they last longer than expected. They can be a sign of complex sadness and sympathize with someone. Talking in a therapeutic or therapeutic way can be very difficult to help for a sad child, “Crawford said.