Adventurous play: A Randomised Control Trial examining the effects of a parental risk re-framing intervention on children's adventurous play and emoti

The prevalence of emotional disorders amongst young people aged 5 to 15 years in England has risen from 3.9% in 2004 to 5.8% in 2017, with anxiety disorders being the most common emotional disorder. Alongside this, in recent years, schoolchildren's opportunities to engage in adventurous, or risky, play have decreased. This is due to several reasons, including an emphasis on protecting children from physical harm, fear of litigation, and the de-prioritisation of unstructured playtime generally. Yet, several theorists have posited that risky play might be essential for children's emotional well-being, particularly for the prevention of anxiety. This means that depriving children of risky play to prevent minor physical injuries may put them at long-term risk of problematic anxiety. Risky play involves playing at speed, high-up, in proximity to dangerous elements (e.g. deep water), exploring alone, and rough-and-tumble play. It has been hypothesised that risky play deprivation may be specifically contributing to the rise of anxiety disorders in children. To date, however, no research has examined this hypothesised link.
For these reasons, the proposed project aims to investigate if schoolchildren who engage in adventurous play show a decreased risk of developing anxiety issues. To fulfil this aim, two studies will be conducted. The first study will involve collecting measurements before and after an intervention that encourages schoolchildren to engage in risky play. Measurements will be taken of risky play behaviours, children's views concerning the risks during play, children's willingness to engage in risky play, and the risk factors associated with the development of anxiety disorders. These risk factors include not feeling in control during dangerous situations, fearing the unknown, and avoiding situations considered to have an uncertain outcome. In sum, the first study aims to explore whether encouraging risky play can reduce the risk of children developing anxiety disorders in the future. The second study aims to examine whether children attending schools with a traditional, risk-averse approach to play show higher levels of anxiety than those attending schools that instead encourage risky play. For both studies, children will be recruited from local primary schools.
Overall, the proposed project will be one of the first empirical investigations of the hypothesised link between adventurous play deprivation and the development of childhood anxiety disorders. Findings will indicate whether such a relationship may exist, and whether a school-based intervention that encourages risky play reduces children's risk of developing anxiety issues in the future. This may have important implications for the development and advancement of preventative treatments for childhood anxiety disorders.