Peer victimization can negatively impact emotion regulation in youth and is associated with harmful mental health outcomes. One protective factor against the impacts of peer victimization is a strong attachment to family and positive peer relationships. Given that pets are commonly seen as family members and that youth report turning to their pet for emotional comfort, companion animals could provide an avenue of support for youth experiencing victimization. A geographically diverse sample of 5725 adolescents in the United States from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study® was used to explore whether the relationship between peer victimization and emotion regulation was moderated by whether a pet lives in the home. Having a pet in the home did not moderate the relationship between peer victimization and emotion regulation; however, mean-level differences were present across types of household pet (i.e., youth with no pets, youth with at least one dog, and youth with non-dog pets). Participants who did not live with a companion animal showed higher levels of both maladaptive emotion regulation (expressive suppression) and adaptive emotion regulation (cognitive reappraisal), suggesting that having a pet might lower overall emotion regulation pathways regardless of adaptive directionality. Relational victimization was a significant predictor of expressive suppression regardless of whether there was a pet in the home, although overt victimization was not a predictor of either kind of emotion regulation. This research demonstrates the complex nature of human–animal relationships and suggests more research is needed to understand the nuanced relationship between pets, peer victimization, and emotion regulation.

中文翻译：

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伴侣动物以及青少年同伴受害与情绪调节的关系

同伴受害会对青少年的情绪调节产生负面影响，并与有害的心理健康结果相关。抵御同伴受害影响的保护因素之一是对家庭的强烈依恋和积极的同伴关系。鉴于宠物通常被视为家庭成员，并且青少年报告向宠物寻求情感安慰，伴侣动物可以为经历受害的青少年提供支持途径。来自青少年大脑认知发展 (ABCD) 研究®的美国 5725 名青少年的不同地理位置样本被用来探讨同伴受害与情绪调节之间的关系是否会因家中是否养宠物而受到调节。家里养宠物并不能缓和同伴受害与情绪调节之间的关系；然而，不同类型的家庭宠物（即没有宠物的青少年、至少养一只狗的青少年和养非狗宠物的青少年）存在平均水平差异。不与伴侣动物一起生活的参与者表现出较高水平的适应不良情绪调节（表达抑制）和适应性情绪调节（认知重新评估），这表明养宠物可能会降低整体情绪调节途径，无论适应性方向性如何。无论家里是否有宠物，关系受害都是表达抑制的重要预测因素，尽管公开受害并不是任何一种情绪调节的预测因素。这项研究证明了人与动物关系的复杂性，并表明需要更多的研究来理解宠物、同伴受害和情绪调节之间的微妙关系。