Document type: News from Toulouse National Veterinary School (ENVT )
Authors: ENVT
Preview: Two ENVT students have set out to have a French version of the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) validated by studying the factors that influence the attachment of French pet owners to their companion animals.
Human-animal relationships are coming under increasing scientific scrutiny for the beneficial effects that animals can have on humans, particularly dogs.
One way to measure the human-animal bond is to assess the owner's attachment to his or her pet.
To do this, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) has already been validated in English, German and Portuguese.
The LAPS is considered to be reliable and effective, which is why it is also used to validate other methods of studying the human-animal relationship.
Validating a French version of the LAPS would enable us to discover more about French pet owners.
For example, studies on attachment have shown that stronger attachment was linked to a better quality of life for English owners, but that strong attachment could also reflect social discomfort and anxiety in German owners.
In addition, this tool would open up new directions for human psychology in France, for example, how to provide better support for owners after the death of their pets, as a link has been found between a strong attachment to your pet and deeper depression in the USA.
The attachment of owners to their pets can thus affect the quality of life of both humans and animals, making it useful to understand the factors associated with strong or weak attachment in French pet owners.
Studies of this type have already been carried out in other countries, including the USA, Brazil, Germany, Italy and India, but the subject is still little studied in France.
Take part in the study
