Participation in leisure activities: differences between children with and without physical disabilities.

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Recreational Therapy
• Disability Studies

Background:

• Leisure participation is crucial for child development and well-being.
• Understanding differences in leisure engagement between children with and without disabilities is important.
• Limited research exists on gender-specific leisure participation patterns in children with disabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare leisure activity participation dimensions in school-aged children (10-16) with and without physical disabilities.
• To identify differences based on disability status and gender.
• To investigate the interaction effect between gender and disability on leisure participation.

Main Methods:

• The Children Leisure Activity Scale (CLASS) was administered to 294 children (81 with disabilities, 213 without).
• A two-way MANCOVA was used to analyze differences in leisure activity participation.
• Linear regressions were employed to identify group-specific models.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were found in leisure activity participation based on disability status, gender, and their interaction.
• Children with disabilities, especially girls, participated in a narrower range of activities with less social interaction.
• Two distinct models of leisure participation were identified for each group.

Conclusions:

• Children with disabilities, particularly girls, are at risk for limited leisure participation and social engagement.
• The study provides evidence-based data on children at risk for leisure participation.
• The findings support the discriminant validity of the Children Leisure Activity Scale (CLASS).