The study deals with the feeling of loneliness, the social network and the
search for help when finding oneself in uncertain situations among a group of
330 children aged 9 to 13 years who attend primary school. The children were
asked to express themselves using four questionnaires; they wrote these tests in
groups of 5 or 6. Three variables have been taken into account: sex, scholastic
performance and socioeconomical environment. Several statistical analyses were
carried out, in particular analyses of variance (anova) and correlation
analyses.
While low performing children (i.e., children who are one or two-years behind in
French and Mathematics) experience significantly more feelings of loneliness,
have fewer friends, ask less for help when they are sad or in need of confiding
their problems, the situation is different for high performing children. They
mention more often having friends (p<.01) and animals (dog or cat, p<.05) as
being of help. When these children feel an internal discomfort or feel alone,
they seek support in animals, such support being emotional (i.e. having someone
who listens, protects, reassures or shows his/her appreciation) or in the form
of companionship (i.e., having someone who spends time with oneself). While not
very high, the correlations are nevertheless significant between these forms of
support and animals.
The question one can ask is whether low performing children do not "know" how to
use animal resources (just as they have difficulties in their relations with
peers) or that they do not have the benefit of the presence of animals in their
family circle. The variables of sex and environment do sometimes influence the
results: in some situations, girls call more often upon an animal than boys do
and children from middle class families do so more than children from
disadvantaged families. The results lead to consider the benefits of using
animals with low performing children, to promote learning processes.
