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

英国5至15岁年轻人的情绪障碍患病率从2004年的3.9%上升到2017年的5.8%，其中焦虑症是最常见的情绪障碍。除此之外，近年来，学童参与冒险或冒险游戏的机会减少了。这有几个原因，包括强调保护儿童免受身体伤害，害怕诉讼，以及普遍不重视非结构化的游戏时间。然而，一些理论家认为，冒险游戏可能对儿童的情感健康至关重要，尤其是对预防焦虑。这意味着剥夺儿童的冒险游戏以防止轻微的身体伤害可能会使他们长期处于问题焦虑的风险中。冒险游戏包括在高速、高空、靠近危险元素（如深水）、独自探索和打闹游戏中进行游戏。有一种假设认为，风险游戏剥夺可能会特别导致儿童焦虑症的增加。然而，到目前为止，还没有研究证实这种假设的联系。由于这些原因，该项目旨在调查参与冒险游戏的学童是否显示出患焦虑问题的风险降低。为实现这一目标，将进行两项研究。第一项研究将收集鼓励学童参与冒险游戏的干预前后的测量数据。测量风险游戏行为、儿童对游戏中风险的看法、儿童参与风险游戏的意愿以及与焦虑障碍发展相关的风险因素。这些风险因素包括在危险情况下感觉无法控制，害怕未知，避免被认为有不确定结果的情况。总之，第一项研究旨在探索鼓励冒险游戏是否能降低儿童未来患焦虑症的风险。第二项研究的目的是检查那些在传统的、不愿冒险的学校上学的孩子是否比那些在鼓励冒险游戏的学校上学的孩子表现出更高的焦虑水平。这两项研究都将从当地小学招募儿童。总的来说，拟议的项目将是对冒险游戏剥夺与儿童焦虑症发展之间假设联系的首批实证调查之一。研究结果将表明这种关系是否存在，以及以学校为基础的鼓励冒险游戏的干预是否会降低儿童未来发展焦虑问题的风险。这可能对儿童焦虑症的预防性治疗的发展和进步具有重要意义。

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.