Participation Patterns of Portuguese Children and Youth with and without Disabilities in Leisure Activities at School, Home and Community Contexts

Author(s):

Manuela Sanches-Ferreira (submitting) Sílvia Alves (presenting) Manuela Gomes Bárbara Santos Monica Silveira Maia

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 06 B, Social Inclusion for All

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-23

15:30-17:00

Room:

W6.16

Chair:

Charlotte Riis Jensen

Contribution

Participation is recognized as essential for learning and educational success of children with and without disabilities (Eriksson et al., 2007; Law et al., 2006; Silveira-Maia et al., 2012; Simeonsson et al., 2001) and one of the fundamental human rights (UN, 2006). Defined as the person’s involvement in real life situations (WHO 2001, 2007), it is through participation that children form friendships, develop skills and competences, express creativity, attain physical and mental health and determine the meaning and purpose of life (Law et al., 2006). Participation in leisure activities is, in this sense, an important dimension of individuals’ functioning, well-being and quality of life, motivated by their willingness to take part of enjoyable and meaningful activities (Badia et al., 2012).

Research evidence has repeatedly demonstrated, however, that children with disabilities tend to experience restricted participation in leisure activities in comparison to students without disabilities (e.g., Jarus et al., 2011; Ullenhhag et al., 2012). Children and youth with disabilities engage in activities for less time and the diversity of their participation is also more restricted, due to personal and environmental barriers such as mobility and communication problems and negative attitudes of others (King et al., 2003).

Within this context, it is important to identify the pattern of participation of Portuguese children and youth in different leisure activities in order to develop interventions to support participation in these activities. The aim of this study is to investigate the pattern of participation in leisure activities of children and youth with and without disabilities. This study will attend at the diversity and intensity of participation, as well as at the enjoyment and preference of children to participate in leisure activities performed at school, home and community contexts.

Method

One-hundred seventy-five students, with ages between 6 and 18 years, participated in this study, 61 (34.9%) with disabilities and 114 (65.1%) without disabilities. The sample included 80 males (45.7%) and 95 (54.3%). Participants were sampled from two schools. Students with disabilities were selected by convenience taking into consideration the level of comprehension to fill the measures, and students without disabilities were randomly selected, two from each class where students with disabilities belong. Participation was assessed through the Children’s Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment (CAPE, King et al., 2004) – an adapted version for use in Portugal (Santos & Sanches-Ferreira, 2014) – which consists in a self-reported measure designed to document how children and youth, between 5 and 21 years, participate in everyday activities outside of mandated school activities. Originally formed by 49 pictures of leisure activities, the Portuguese adapted version includes 24 pictures of different activities, measuring participation in 7 home-based, in 9 school-based and in 8 out-of-school (community-based) activities over the past four months. Children and youth are asked to indicate through the visualization of each picture: a) which activities they participate in; b) how often they have participated in those activities over the last four months. In activities that children participated, they are also asked to identify: a) with whom they typically do the activity (e.g., teacher, peer/friend); b) where they do the activity (e.g., classroom, recess, canteen), and c) how much they enjoy doing the activity. With this, four scores are obtained with the CAPE: 1) diversity of participation – based on the count number of activities the child in which the child participated over the last four months – the maximum is 24); 2) intensity of participation – calculated by dividing the sum of frequency in the activity (rated on a 7-point scale) by the total number of activities; 3) enjoyment in participating – rated on a 7-point scale with higher scores reflecting higher levels of enjoyment, and 4) activities performed alone – percentage of activities performed alone. Children and youth were also asked to fill the Preferences for Activities of Children (PAC, King et al., 2004), which evaluates the child’s preferred activities taking into consideration the CAPE pictures of activities. The child preference can be score: 1) prefer to do; 2) sort of prefer to do, and; 3) prefer not to do.

Expected Outcomes

Results of this study revealed that children with disabilities participated in fewer activities and in with less intensity in total, formal and informal activities than children without disabilities. In addition, children/without disabilities performed more activities alone and spend more time together with adults. However, results also showed few significant differences in the level of enjoyment and preference among children/youth with and without disabilities. Finally, the analysis that is being carried out at this moment, demonstrate potential associations between sociodemographic variables (gender, age and educational level) and participation in leisure activities. Results will be discussed in terms of the need to systematically study the participation in leisure activities of children/youth with and without disabilities and investigate environmental variables influencing this pattern, in order to develop interventions aimed at enhancing participation in these activities.

References

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