Abstract
Children with disabilities (CWD) face a heightened risk of mental health challenges, demanding urgent attention. Despite the recognized significance of play for mental well-being, limited research explores the role of play, especially risky play, in CWD. This study investigates parental perspectives on risky play in CWD and its links to child playfulness, parent–child relationships, and problem symptoms. One hundred and five participants, parents of CWD (n = 52) and without (n = 53), were recruited via Prolific and surveyed on various questionnaires. Findings indicated significant disparities between parents of CWD and without disabilities groups, including group differences in playfulness, problem symptoms, and child–parent relationships and positive associations across all participants and between groups on all measures, emphasizing the interplay of key variables. No significant differences were found in measures of risk tolerance and rough-and-tumble play. Future research should expand these inquiries to various disability categories and consider alternative measures to validate these exploratory findings.
Implications for Future Research and Practice
This study implies that playfulness, or at least its perception, serves as a predictor for various parental views on play for CWD. In this study, parents exhibited significant differences in rating their children's playfulness and problem symptoms. Group disparities also surfaced in the correlation between playfulness and problem symptoms, tolerance to play-related risks, and the perceived benefits of R&TP. Teachers, therapists, and childcare workers should focus on explicitly teaching skills related to playfulness for CWD. Parents may help increase playfulness for their child with disabilities by tailoring play activities to their child's needs with the help of therapists or specialists to understand the best approaches. Parents and teachers may also encourage social interaction with other children, both with and without disabilities, to promote social skills.
Matthew Klein, Paige Williams & Steven Woltering
Pages 410-427 | Received 08 Jan 2024, Accepted 02 Sep 2024
Published online: 23 Nov 2024
View Article
