Children who are slow learners and those whose parents have divorced cope better with life if they have a pet than those who do not, researchers in the Netherlands have found. A five-year study into the behavior and feelings of 600 children aged 3 to 18 found that children who were poor readers and those suffering high levels of stress had higher levels of self-esteem and functioned better emotionally if they had a pet. Researchers at the University of Utrecht who conducted the study, said that pets provided vulnerable children with a strong sense of security, but appeared to have a negligible impact on well-adjusted children.
(The Times 04/10/02; p.15)

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