Companion animals and child development outcomes: longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of a UK birth cohort study

Purewal, Rebecca; Christley, Robert; Kordas, Katarzyna; Joinson, Carol; Meints, Kerstin; Gee, Nancy; Westgarth, Carri

doi:10.1186/s12887-024-05049-7

Table 4 Univariable and multivariable associations between pet ownership at ages 8, 10 and 11, and attention. For impulsivity and working memory please see additional file supplementary table 10

From: Companion animals and child development outcomes: longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis of a UK birth cohort study

			Univariable		Multivariable (adjusted)
Age		N	b (95% CI)	p	b (95% CI)	p
	Selective Attention
	Sky Search Task (score)
	Has any Pet
8		5720	-0.02 (-0.13, 0.09)	0.693	0.03 (-0.08, 0.14)	0.577
11		2522	-0.02 (-0.13, 0.08)	0.682	0.09 (-0.02, 0.19)	0.100
	Has Dog
8		5721	0.05 (-0.06, 0.168)	0.352	0.05 (-0.06, 0.16)	0.388
11		2524	0.02 (-0.08, 0.12)	0.687	0.06 (-0.04, 0.16)	0.209
	Has Cat
8		5721	-0.03 (-0.13, 0.08)	0.606	-0.01 (-0.10, 0.09)	0.983
11		2525	-0.08 (-0.16, 0.01)	0.094	-0.04 (-0.13, 0.05)	0.399
	Has other/miscellaneous pets
8		5721	-0.07 (-0.17, 0.02)	0.132	-0.00 (-0.09, 0.08)	0.947
11		2524	-0.09 (-0.17, 0.00)	0.051	-0.03 (-0.13, 0.06)	0.490
	Attentional Switching (Dual Task) (score)
	Has any Pet
8		5228	0.32 (-0.72, 1.35)	0.548	0.71 (-0.32, 1.75)	0.178
11		2357	0.15 (-0.15, 0.46)	0.326	0.27 (-0.05, 0.59)	0.098
	Has Dog
8		5228	0.46 (-0.64, 1.55)	0.414	0.46 (-0.65, 1.56)	0.417
11		2359	0.39 (0.10, 0.67)	0.007*	0.42 (0.12, 0.71)	0.005*
	Has Cat
8		5228	0.49 (-0.48, 1.47)	0.325	0.65 (-0.33, 1.62)	0.192
11		2360	0.01 (-0.26, 0.27)	0.950	0.05 (-0.22, 0.32)	0.715
	Has other/miscellaneous pets
8		5228	-0.35 (-1.25, 0.56)	0.459	-0.06 (-0.97, 0.85)	0.894
11		2359	-0.08 (-0.33, 0.17)	0.559	-0.01 (-0.26, 0.25)	0.991
	Attentional Control
	Same worlds task (time seconds)
	Has any Pet
8		5745	-0.06 (-0.25, 0.12)	0.477	-0.03 (-0.21, 0.16)	0.773
11		2448	-0.03 (-0.20, 0.14)	0.715	0.03 (-0.14, 0.20)	0.723
	Has Dog
8		5746	0.18 (-0.01, 0.38)	0.055	0.16 (-0.04, 0.35)	0.111
11		2450	0.09 (-0.06, 0.25)	0.236	0.07 (-0.09, 0.23)	0.376
	Has Cat
8		5746	-0.02 (-0.19, 0.16)	0.867	-0.01 (-0.17, 0.17)	0.966
11		2451	0.01 (-0.14, 0.15)	0.910	0.02 (-0.12, 0.17)	0.778
	Has other/miscellaneous pets
8		5746	-0.13 (-0.28, 0.04)	0.126	-0.09 (-0.25, 0.07)	0.268
11		2450	-0.13 (-0.26, 0.01)	0.071	-0.08 (-0.22, 0.06)	0.250
	Opposite worlds task (time seconds)
	Has any Pet
8		5739	-0.33 (-0.67, 0.02)	0.068	-0.27 (-0.63, 0.08)	0.126
11		2446	0.01 (-0.22, 0.25)	0.911	0.14 (-0.09, 0.38)	0.232
	Has Dog
8		5740	0.23 (-0.14, 0.59)	0.231	0.16 (-0.21, 0.53)	0.400
11		2448	0.11 (-0.10, 0.32)	0.303	0.09 (-0.12, 0.31)	0.389
	Has Cat
8		5740	-0.07 (-0.40, 0.26)	0.686	-0.05 (-0.38, 0.28)	0.764
11		2449	0.06 (-0.14, 0.25)	0.580	0.11 (-0.09, 0.30)	0.282
	Has other/miscellaneous pets
8		5740	-0.31 (-0.62, -0.01)	0.047*	-0.26 (-0.56, 0.05)	0.105
11		2448	-0.19 (-0.37, 0.00)	0.050*	-0.11 (-0.29, 0.08)	0.268

*P < .05
Analyses were adjusted for: sex, maternal depression at ages 8 and 11 years, maternal anxiety at ages 6 and 11 years, overcrowding at 8 and 10 years, house type at ages 7 and 10 years, highest parental social class (antenatal period), maternal education (antenatal period), maternal age at delivery (antenatal period), home ownership status (antenatal period), family income (antenatal period) and car ownership (antenatal period), birthweight, developmental delay measured at child age 30 months, child temperament at 2 years, older children living in the house (antenatal period), stressful life events at almost 4 years, 9 and 11 years old, and mother-child bonding at child age 3 years
Results did not differ when accounting for parental marital status and financial difficulties therefore these variables were discarded from the final models

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