Child's Play: Examining the Association Between Time Spent Playing and Child Mental Health

It is theorised that adventurous play offers learning opportunities that help to prevent mental health problems in children. In this study, data from two samples is used to examine associations between the time that children aged 5-11 years spent playing adventurously and their mental health. For comparison, time spent playing unadventurously and time spent playing outdoors are also examined. Study 1 includes a sample of 417 parents, Study 2 includes data from a nationally representative sample of 1919 parents. Small, significant associations between adventurous play and internalising problems, as well as positive affect during the first UK-wide Covid-19 lockdown, were found; children who spend more time playing adventurously had fewer internalising problems and more positive affect during the Covid-19 lockdown. Study 2 showed that these associations were stronger for children from lower income families than for children from higher income families. The results align with theoretical hypotheses about adventurous play.

Adventurous play for a healthy childhood: Facilitators and barriers identified by parents in Britain

RATIONALE

Adventurous play, where children take age-appropriate risks involving uncertainty, fear, and thrill, is positively associated with children's physical health, mental health, and development. There is growing concern that children's access to and engagement with adventurous play opportunities are declining in Westernised countries, which may have negative implications for children's health.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to ascertain the facilitators of and barriers to children's adventurous play most identified by parents in Britain and to determine whether these differ across socio-demographic and geographic groups.

METHODS

This study analysed the responses of a nationally representative sample of 1919 parents who took part in the British Children's Play Survey. Two open-ended questions asked parents to identify what they perceive to be the facilitators of and barriers to their child's adventurous play. A quantitative coding scheme, developed using the qualitative framework identified by Oliver et al. (2022), was applied to parents' responses.

RESULTS

A diversity in the most identified facilitators and barriers was found, including concerns about the risk of injury from adventurous play and the safety of society, positive attitudes about the benefits of adventurous play, as well as factors related to child attributes. In general, these were consistently identified across different socio-demographic and geographic groups, although some differences were found in barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this research support the identification of key targets for those working with parents to improve children's adventurous play opportunities and ultimately their physical and mental health. Future research should seek to design and tailor interventions by asking parents about the support they would value.

Correction: Dodd et al. Children's Play and Independent Mobility in 2020: Results from the British Children's Play Survey. Int. J. Environ. Hum. Health 2021, 18, 4334

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Parent perceived barriers and facilitators of children's adventurous play in Britain: a framework analysis

BACKGROUND

From a public health perspective there is growing interest in children's play, including play involving risk and adventure, in relation to children's physical and mental health. Regarding mental health, it is theorised that adventurous play, where children experience thrilling, exciting emotions, offers important learning opportunities that prepare children for dealing with uncertainty and help prevent anxiety. Despite these benefits, adventurous play has decreased substantially within a generation. Parents have a key role in facilitating or limiting children's opportunities for adventurous play, but research identifying the barriers and facilitators parents perceive in relation to adventurous play is scarce. The present study therefore examined the barriers to and facilitators of adventurous play as perceived by parents of school-aged children in Britain.

METHODS

This study analysed data from a subsample of parents in Britain (n = 377) who participated in the nationally representative British Children's Play Survey. Parents responded to two open-ended questions pertaining to the barriers to and facilitators of children's adventurous play. Responses were analysed using a qualitative Framework Analysis, an approach suitable for managing large datasets with specific research questions.

RESULTS

Four framework categories were identified: Social Environment; Physical Environment; Risk of Injury; Child Factors. Social Environment included barriers and facilitators related to parents, family and peers, as well as community and society. Dominant themes within the Social Environment related to perceptions about the certainty of child safety, such as supervision and the safety of society. Beliefs about the benefits of adventurous play for development and well-being were also important in the Social Environment. Physical Environment factors focused on safety and practical issues. Risk of Injury captured concerns about children being injured during play. Child Factors included child attributes, such as play preference, developmental ability and trait-like characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Improved understanding of what influences parent perceptions of adventurous play can inform public health interventions designed to improve children's opportunities for and engagement in adventurous play, with a view to promote children's physical and mental health.

The role of audience familiarity and activity outcome in children's understanding of disclaimers

Disclaimers are used prior to expected poor performance to protect the individual from being evaluated negatively by the audience (Lee et al., 1999, Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 701). In this study, 8‐, 11‐, and 14‐year‐olds (N = 147) heard stories of a protagonist telling a familiar or unfamiliar peer that they did not think that they would perform well today, followed by either no disclaimer or a disclaimer and the activity outcome. Children judged how the audience would rate the protagonist's typical performance and character, and judged their response motivation. Children judged that familiar audiences would be more positive about typical performance and character than unfamiliar audiences; this varied depending on disclaimer use and participant sex. Further, children's typical performance judgements were more positive when the outcome was negative if a disclaimer was offered, with older children recognizing the self‐presentational motivation in these conditions. Results are explored in relation to children's understanding of disclaimers.

Some Substituent Effects in the Formation of Binuclear Metalladienes and 1,2-Dimetallacycloheptadienones From Reactions Between (η-C5H5)2Rh2(μ-CO)(CF3C2CF3) and Alkynes

The reaction between (η-C5H5)2Rh2(CO)(CF3C2CF3)(1) and alkynes, RC=CR′, can proceed by two alternative pathways. One gives the complexes (η- C5H5)2Rh2{C4(CF3)2RR′CO} (2) in which a pentadienone unit bridges the Rh - Rh bond. The other produces the binuclear metalladiene complexes (η-C5H5)2Rh2{C4(CF3)2RR?} (3) plus the dicarbonyl complex (η-C5H5)2Rh2(CO)2(CF3C2CF3) (4). The formation of (2) is strongly favoured with the dialkylacetylenes BuC≡CBu and MeC =CR (R = Et, Pri, But). With the unsymmetrical acetylenes, two isomers of (2) are isolated. The tendency to form (3) + (4) increases when there are electron-withdrawing substituents such as CN on the alkyne, and becomes dominant when the alkyne is polar (e.g. MeC≡CR with R = Ph, CF3 or CO2Me). The reactions with MeC≡CR are highly regioselective, with only one of the two possible regioisomers being isolated in each case. This has the methyl group in the 3-position of the metalladiene ring. Unexpected products formed in the reactions with MeC≡Cet and MeC≡CPri have been characterized by X-ray crystallography. One is a 1,2- dimetallacycloheptadienone complex, (η-C5H5)2Rh2{C4(CF3)2Me(CMe2OH)CO}. The compound crystallizes with 16 molecules in the orthorhombic space group Fdd2 in a unit cell of dimensions a 31.728(15), b 27.923(14), c 9.275(5) Ǻ. The structure was solved by heavy atom methods and refined to R 0.037 based on 2644 observed reflections. The CMe2(OH) group is adjacent to the carbonyl in the bridging group. The other is a binuclear metalladiene complex (η-C5H5)2Rh2{C4(CF3)2Me( COMe )}. It crystallizes with eight molecules in the orthorhombic space group P bca in a unit cell of dimensions a 17.349(8), b 15.819(8), c 13.720(7) Ǻ. The structure was solved by heavy atom methods and refined to R 0.053 based on 3045 observed reflections above background. The acyl group is adjacent to the metal in the metalladiene ring. These two complexes are formed from (1) and impurities present in the alkynes.