Table 1. Summary Statistics for Children’s (N = 643) Health Indicators and Results of Bivariate Tests for Effects of a Pet Dog in the Home.
| Indicator | na | Sample | Pet Dog in Home (n = 370) |
No Pet Dog in home (n = 273) |
P Valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female, % | 643 | 45.1 | 45.1 | 45.1 | .98 |
| Age, mean (95% CI) | 643 | 6.72 (6.55– 6.88) | 6.72 (6.50– 6.94) | 6.71 (6.46, 6.96) | .94 |
| Poverty level, mean (95% CI)c | 643 | 0.15 (0.14–0.15) | 0.15 (0.14– 0.16) | 0.15 (0.14– 0.15) | .23 |
| Positive on Parent PHQ, % | 617 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.1 | .87 |
| Child history of mental health diagnosis, % | 594 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 6.9 | .76 |
| PSC-17 score, mean (95% CI)d | 177 | 11.75 (10.80– 12.70) | 11.55 (10.14– 12.96) | 11.99 (10.73– 13.25) | .65 |
| Screen time ≤2 h/d, % | 630 | 54.9 | 54.9 | 54.9 | .99 |
| BMI z-score, mean (95% CI) | 640 | 0.54 (0.46– 0.63) | 0.53 (0.42– 0.65) | 0.56 (0.43– 0.68) | .80 |
| BMIe, % | |||||
| Normal | 423 | 66.1 | 65.8 | 66.5 | .80 |
| Overweight | 108 | 16.9 | 17.7 | 15.8 | |
| Obese | 109 | 17.0 | 16.6 | 17.7 | |
| SCARED-5 score, mean (95% CI) | |||||
| Mean SCARED-5 (untransformed [raw data]) | 630 | 1.24 (1.14– 1.35) | 1.13 (1.00– 1.26) | 1.40 (1.23– 1.58) | .01 |
| Mean SCARED-5 (transformed) | 630 | 0.74 (0.65– 0.84) | 0.65 (0.54– 0.77) | 0.89 (0.73– 1.06) | .02 |
| SCARED-5 score ≥3, % | 630 | 15.7 | 12.0 | 21.0 | .002 |
| SDQ impact scores, % | |||||
| Normal (SDQ = 0) | 551 | 87.7 | 89.0 | 85.9 | .33 |
| Borderline (SDQ = 1) | 29 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | |
| Abnormal (SDQ ≥2) | 48 | 7.6 | 6.3 | 9.5 | |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; PHQ, PSC, Pediatric Symptom Checklist; SCARED, Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders; SDQ, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Impact Supplement.
The number for covariates. These numbers do not equal 643 in cases where data were missing for the given covariate.
P value is for having a dog versus not having a dog.
Percentage of population below the poverty level in NY by zip code.
The screener branched to the Pediatric Symptom Checklist if the SDQ Impact Supplement was positive. Therefore not all children were screened with the PSC.
We used the CDC definitions for the 3 child BMI classes (normal, overweight, obese): overweight = BMI ≥85th percentile and <95th percentile for children of the same age and sex; obesity = BMI ≥95th percentile for children of the same age and sex).