The purpose of this Ex Post Facto research utilizing the static group comparison
design was to answer the following research questions: (1) What were the characteristics
of youth who completed the 4-H PetPALS and Companion Animal 4-H projects in
respect to county, age, gender, years enrolled in the project, and type of pet species used? (2) What were the attitudes toward pets, attachment to pets, and empathic attitudes toward people for youth in the 4-H PetPALS and Companion Animal 4-H projects?
(3) What were the relationships among attitudes toward pets, attachment to pets, and
empathic attitudes toward people and youth characteristics for those completing the 4-H
PetPALS and Companion Animal 4-H projects?
The following dependent variables: attitudes of youth toward pets, attachment of
youth to pets, and empathic attitudes of youth toward people were measured. The
independent variables: type of 4-H pet program, county of program instruction, gender,
age, years enrolled in the specific 4-H pet program, and pet species referred to in
questionnaire were also measured to answer the research questions.
A questionnaire was developed based upon existing scales and selected
demographic variables. The instrument was administered on site to a census of 4-H
PetPALS youth (N = 74) and a random sample of 4-H Companion Animal youth (n = 74).
Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize the data.
Findings showed that youth who completed the 4-H PetPALS project exhibited
more positive attitudes toward their pets, experienced stronger attachment to their pets, and were more empathic toward people than youth who completed solely a companion
animal 4-H project. Regression analysis revealed that youth who completed the 4-H
PetPALS project and females were significant predictors of attitudes toward pets,
attachment to pets, and empathic attitudes toward people.