Understanding attachment in homeless adolescents and emerging adults with pets

ABSTRACT

In general, homelessness is associated with insecure attachment and poorly developed relationships in early life, which may be one reason why homeless adolescents or emerging adults are using pets to create a first-time secure attachment. A descriptive phenomenological qualitative study was used to explore homeless adolescents and emerging adults' attachment to their pet. There were 23 participants used in this study, aged 18 to 24, who were homeless in Las Vegas, Nevada. Participants all suffered from poor relationships within the parent-child dyad during child and adolescent development; these relationships contributed to homelessness. Attachment to others was discussed at this point, under the belief that a pet could act as a protective mechanism against outcomes related to insecure attachment. Pet ownership while homeless had positive aspects associated with it, like the ability to feel love and regulate emotions, though there were also negative parts of pet ownership, like having elevated levels of disdain and distrust against people. This complex study reviewing the intersection between attachment, pet ownership, and homelessness in adolescents and emerging adults provides evidence that most participants did not appear to have a change in attachment style despite upholding a close relationship to their pet.

KEYWORDS:

• Homeless
• adolescents
• emerging adults
• pets
• relationships

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the participants who were a part of this study; we support you and believe in you and will continue fighting for a better life for you.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Mary Hartsell

Dr. Mary Hartsell received her PsyD from California Southern University, where she focused on understanding the implications of mental health outcomes related to pet ownership in adolescent populations.

Tara Rava Zolnikov

Dr. Tara Rava Zolnikov is an internationally published expert on qualitative research methods; she concentrates on providing vulnerable populations with a voice and uses autoethnographic, ethnographic, and phenomenological perspectives to understand or live through these experiences to recreate them for a widespread audience. She focuses on diverse and cultural populations, who suffer indiscriminately from adverse effects due to various problems. Dr. Zolnikov works internationally on issues in low- and middle-income countries, including Kenya, Ghana, India, Colombia, and Brazil. She has worked on a variety of public and global health projects.