Dodd Nesbit FitzGibbon 2022

To examine our hypotheses, Pearson r correlations, pooled from the multiply imputed datasets, were used to evaluate associations between the three play variables and four child mental health variables (SDQ internalising, SDQ externalising, PANAS positive affect, PANAS negative affect)

The researchers used statistics to determine if: children internalising their behaviour, children externalising their behaviour, positive mood and negative mood were related to the way children play.

Alongside these declines in outdoor play and independence, rates of emotional disorders in UK children aged 5–16 years increased by 49% between 1994 and 2017 [5] and recent data show further increases, with an estimated one in six UK children having a probable mental health problem in July 2020 [6]. It has been proposed that reductions in children’s outdoor, risky play, may have negative consequences for children’s mental health, and may be contributing in part to the increase in children’s mental health problems

Children aren’t playing outside and independently nowadays as they did in the past and they are having mental health problems more often than they did in the past. Researchers think that the fact that kids are playing outside less often might explain why kids are having more mental health problems.

These results show that effect sizes of all associations were small. Nevertheless, hours spent playing adventurously was significantly associated with both children’s internalising scores on the SDQ and positive affect as measured using the PANAS, with children who spent more time playing adventurously having fewer internalising symptoms and more positive affect

The researchers found that the number of hours children play adventurously is related to children telling others about their problems and related to children having more positive mood and behaviour

Children with higher positive affect have lower symptoms of depression over time [35]. This finding therefore, provides some initial support for the idea that adventurous play may help children to cope, or at least maintain positive affect, during difficult periods, even if it does not prevent negative affect.

Children who show generally more positive emotions are less likely to be depressed in the future. Because they found a link between positive affect and adventurous play, the researchers believe adventurous play is good for children’s mental health.

They should follow up with research to see further about how the covid 19- pandemic impacted children’s ability to play outside and if this had any effect on children’s mental health.

The most challenging thing for me to understand was the reasoning behind the authors doing two separate studies with different populations with the same procedure and why they wouldn’t have combined it into one larger study.