This study tests the Pet Attachment and Life Impact Scale (PALS), which was developed to measure four impacts upon guardians of their relationships with their animal companions: Love, Regulation, Personal Growth, and Negative Impacts. The survey of 651 college students validated PALS consistency with related scales, and its usefulness to more accurately differentiate and measure the factors of guardian attachment to companion animals in future research.

[Abstract excerpted from original text.]

“Human-animal interaction (HAI) provides benefits for humans. Emotional attachment to pets is a possible mechanism for benefits but there is no standard operationalization for “attachment to pets.” The study presented here (N = 651) uses a pet attachment measure based on qualitative research about benefits of pets. This measure, the Pet Attachment and Life Impact Scale (PALS), has four factors that measure Love, Regulation, Personal Growth, and Negative Impacts. We present exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis of the instrument. We then examine convergent validity with four a priori derived measures of pet attachment (Anthropomorphism Scale, CENSHARE PAS, CABS, LAPS) and a social support scale. We provide evidence that having a current relationship with a pet is related to higher scores on the PALS than having a former pet relationship, evidencing that the PALS is a relational measure. Overall, females are more attached to pets than are males, and dog owners are most attached, followed by cat owners and owners of other pets.”