Evidence that Free Play is Critical to Youth Mental Health
- Gray P, Lancy D, Bjorklund D. (2023) Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing: Summary of the Evidence. Journal of Pediatrics. Vol. 260, pp 1-8, Sept. 2023. – Presents multiple lines of evidence for the thesis that a decline in children’s opportunities for independent activity is a major cause of the well-documented decline in their emotional wellbeing. Summary of article here.
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Yogman M, Garner A, Hutchinson J, Hirsh-Pasek K, Golinkoff R.M. (2018) The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in young children. Journal of Pediatrics, 142(3), 1–17. – Along with significant evidence of the importance of play in young chiildren, this report encourages pediatricians to prescribe play for their young patients.
- Beaulieu E, Beno S. (2024) Healthy childhood development through outdoor risky play: Navigating the balance with injury prevention. Canadian Paediatric Society. – Risky play helps build physical and mental health and resilience among children and can help prevent or manage conditions like obesity, anxiety and behavioural issues. CPS recommends that children should be kept, “as safe as necessary, not as safe as possible.”
- Ortiz C. (2023) Treating Childhood Anxiety with a Mega-Dose of Independence, Profectus 2023/o3/14. – Provides evidence of connection between childhood independence and mental health.
- Leibowitz J.A. (2020) Protecting Play: It’s a Matter of Life and Death, Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 19:2, 125-133. – Using clinical material from psychotherapy, paper illustrates: as a society, we are focusing on the wrong forms of “enrichment” for children and adolescents, and by depriving children of play we are putting them at risk for poor mental health.
- Gray P. (2013)”Definitions of play” Scholarpedia. 2013;8.
- Gray P. (2011) The decline of play and rise of psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. Am J Play 2011;3:443-63.
- Gray P. (2020) “Risky play: why children love it and need it.” In Loebach J, Little S, Cox A, Owens PE, eds. Fostering the inclusion of youth in the public realm: Design processes, practices, and policies for the creation of youth-inclusive public outdoor environments. New York: Routledge. 2020. p 39-51.
- O’Brien J, Smith J. (2002) “Childhood transformed? Risk perceptions and the decline of free play” Br J Occup Ther. 2002;65:123-8.
- Chudacoff H.P. (2007) “Children at play: an American history” NY: New York University Press; 2007
