ERIC Number: EJ1381933
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1740-5629
EISSN: EISSN-1740-5610
Outdoor Play Areas in Childcare Settings and Children's Physical Aggression: A Longitudinal Study of Norwegian Kindergartens
European Journal of Developmental Psychology, v20 n2 p307-326 2023
We investigated the role of physical characteristics of kindergartens' outdoor play areas in teacher-rated physical aggression (PAgg) among 423 children followed annually from ages two to four years. We used data from the Behaviour Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study which follows children from southeast Norway, a country where almost all two- to four-year-old children attend kindergartens. Nesting children in kindergartens, we found two significant associations after adjustment for family selection. First, children in kindergartens with more 'secret places' in their outdoor play areas (where they could play undisturbed) had more PAgg at baseline. Second, children in kindergartens with more adult supervision of their use of outdoor play material showed a less steep decrease in PAgg over time. If causal, these associations would suggest that children in kindergartens should not play completely unmonitored but also that teachers should not control children's outdoor play excessively.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Preschool Children, Preschool Education, Playgrounds, Play, Child Behavior, Aggression, Teacher Role, Student Characteristics, Environmental Influences, Playground Activities
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Norway
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A