| dc.description.abstract | Time spent in nature has been found to promote a connectedness to nature (CTN) in both
children and adults (Gifford & Nilsson, 2014; Deville, 2021). However, it has been found that
people in North America are spending increasingly less time outside and in nature, thus
potentially jeopardizing their CTN (David Suzuki Foundation, 2012; Louv, 2005; Pyle, 1993).
Time spent in nature is important for all human beings, but for children especially, as it has
been found that developing CTN can lead to enhanced physical and mental health outcomes,
but also to developing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours as adults (Ewert, 2004;
Zhang, Goodale & Chen, 2014). However, access to time in nature can largely depend upon the
child’s parental situation (Soga, 2019). Parental factors that may affect a child’s time spent
outside can include parental attitudes toward outdoor safety, their own ecological outlook,
their level of income and education, or whether they have enrolled their child in a nature-based
school. This study is part of a larger research program that looks at measuring pre-school
children’s connection with nature. This portion of the study aims to explore to what extent do a
number of parental factors impact how much time that their child spends outside which can
potentially impact a child’s CTN. For this portion of the study, the parents of the 30 child
participants were given a survey to complete, asking them questions regarding time spent
outside, associated safety concerns with given environments, their ecological outlook, and their
material and social welfare levels. Different factors were then compared with the time the
children spent outside, or likelihood of placement in a nature-based school. Preliminary analysis
shows little significance of the different factors on time spent outside. Further, the results seem
to indicate that the study sample for this pilot test was biased due to the proportion of high
incomes and education levels, and therefore potentially skewing the data. Yet the results of this
research can still help to inform future studies to ensure a more robust sampling method in
attempts for a more accurate picture of parental impact on their children’s CTN and time spent
outside. Such learnings can be applied with future uses of such parental surveys in conjunction
with the CTN tool.
Key words: Connectedness to Nature, Time spent in Nature, Parental Factors of Influence, Pre-
Schoolers, Nature-based Schools | en_US |
