The Role of Timing and Amount of Outdoor Play in Emotional Dysregulation in Preschool Children

BackgroundCurrently, the time children spend playing outdoors is at an all-time low. However, the existing literature suggests that outdoor play may have cognitive and emotional benefits for children.MethodsThe present study carried out a mediation analysis to explore whether amount and timing of outdoor play affects children's emotion regulation and whether working memory mediates these relations among 325 preschool children (Mage = 4.19, SD = 0.85) residing in a large Midwestern city in the United States.ResultsResults showed that greater amounts of outdoor play very early (i.e., wake-up to noon) and very late (i.e., 6 PM to bedtime) in the day were related to greater emotional dysregulation. By contrast, greater amount of outdoor play from noon to 6 PM was related to lower emotional dysregulation. Importantly, the effect of amount of outdoor play from noon to 6 PM on emotion regulation was fully mediated by working memory.ConclusionThe findings of the present study suggest that in early childhood outdoor play that supports children's circadian rhythms may have cognitive and, in turn, emotional benefits.