Children's Risky Play and Resilience: Perspectives of Emergency Care Practitioners.
Michelle E E Bauer, Laura Cunningham, Meghan Gilley and 1 others
PMID 40007454WHAT IT FOUND
Parents who work in emergency care described minor falls and scrapes in children's play as chances to practise coping.
They said they intervened when play seemed likely to cause serious injury, not just a minor scrape.
Key findings
01Parents described three patterns they associated with resilience: learning to persevere after failure, tolerating distress, and supporting autonomy and independence.
02They distinguished risky play, which they associated with minor injuries, from dangerous play, which they said required adult intervention.
03Parents said allowing children to choose activities and continue play after minor injuries was a way children could learn to trust themselves and cope.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study reports parents' beliefs and perspectives, not measured child outcomes, so it cannot show that risky play improves resilience. Participants were doctors and nurses recruited through professional networks and asked to share the invitation with others, so their views may not represent parents outside emergency care. Time spent in emergency roles varied from a few weeks to a few years, and the study did not examine how much emergency room exposure shaped parents' views. Two authors had children and one author had children and an emergency care role, which may have influenced theme development.
Declared interests
No competing interests were declared. The work was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship and a clinical and translational research seed grant from BC Children's Hospital Research Institute.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these parents' beliefs as proof that risky play makes children more resilient. The study recorded parents' perspectives, not measured child outcomes.