Pet Ownership and Child Mental Health: Cats May Be Linked to Worse Outcomes

Parents do all they can to protect their children’s physical and mental well-being, from repeated journeys across town for karate classes to puréeing endless peas or sitting through seemingly limitless CoComelon sessions.

Bringing a pet into the household is another familiar choice, but does research actually back the benefits of animal companionship for children?

A late-2025 study is among the limited research examining these effects in children aged 7 to 8, and its findings are unexpected.

Published in the World Journal of Pediatrics, the work saw Spanish epidemiologists gather years of information on pet ownership, covering much-loved cats, dogs, birds and other creatures, including hamsters and reptiles.

The notable finding was that cats appeared to be linked with poorer mental health measures in children. Other pets, however, including rabbits, reptiles and amphibians, appeared to be associated with the reverse.

Pet ownership and children’s social development

Attachment - the process of developing emotional bonds - plays an important part in social development. Such bonds need not be limited to a child and their caregiver, as they can also arise between a child and an animal companion.

A pet in childhood could therefore bring a range of socio-cognitive advantages, including greater compassion for animals and “powering up a child's responsibility and moral norms,” the researchers say.

Pets could also help children develop the abilities needed for positive human relationships, by helping them interpret non-verbal communication and encouraging prosocial behaviour.

Earlier research, though, has produced uncertain findings.

In response, Spanish scientists began the Infancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA; Environment and Childhood) project in the early 2000s. It included almost 1,900 mother-child pairs from seven Spanish regions.

Although the project was originally created to investigate how environmental influences, including pollutants, affect child development, it has since broadened to examine other factors, among them pet ownership.

For this research, the team drew on medical records, parental sociodemographic information and questionnaires completed at follow-up appointments during pregnancy, at birth, at age 1, at ages 4-5 and at ages 7-8.

When their children were 7-8 years old, parents also filled in a behavioural screening questionnaire. Its questions covered emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, difficulties with peers and prosocial behaviour.

The researchers focused on internalising and externalising behaviours. Internalising behaviours are stress responses directed inward and can involve inner distress associated with depression or anxiety. Externalising behaviours are directed outward, may breach rules or social norms, and can create distress for other people.

Cats, other pets and child mental health

Roughly one-quarter of the 1,893 families had owned a pet throughout the study, with dogs and cats being the most frequent choices.

The findings showed that cat ownership - but solely at ages 4-5 - was associated with a higher risk of both internalising and externalising problems.

By comparison, ownership of “other” animals, meaning pets other than dogs, cats or birds, at both early-childhood follow-ups appeared protective. It was linked to a lower risk of internalising and externalising problems.

None of the other pet companionship patterns had significant associations with the children’s mental health.

The researchers put forward several possible explanations for why clear mental health benefits were not observed. One attachment model proposes that emotional bonds may not be fully established until the age of 18, with any benefits emerging later.

Alternatively, ‘little’ pets such as rodents, fish and reptiles may prompt less powerful emotional bonds because they are evolutionarily more distant from humans.

Yet companionship with these other animals was the only factor associated with improved mental health. This may be because they are often seen as “children's pets” and are easier to look after.

The way owners engage with their pets may matter, too. Cats generally do not join their owners in mental-health-supporting outdoor activities such as jogging or playing fetch, and they commonly remain indoors.

The results may instead reflect the types of pets that parents select for their children. As this was an observational study, it cannot separate these influences, meaning the researchers can only speculate.

Pets differ in their relationship patterns and attachment styles. The researchers suggest cats may be “less affectionate, exhibit avoidant attachment, and are often chosen by families with children who have mental health conditions, due to their lower maintenance needs.”

Other possible explanations

A further possibility is that the feline-related pattern of behavioural problems identified in the study could be affected by toxoplasmosis. The condition affects around one-third of the world’s population and may harm cognition and mental health in children.

“Collectively, our data highlights the complex relationship between early pet ownership and child mental health,” the researchers conclude.

The research was published in the World Journal of Pediatrics.

This article was fact-checked by Rachel Garner and edited by Clare Watson. Although we take pride in our process, we are only human. If you notice an error, please tell us.