Abstract
This study examined the effect of nature preschools on the development of key protective factors associated with psychological resilience. The Deveraux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers, Second Edition (DECA-P2), was used to assess the growth in the protective factors of initiative, self-regulation, and attachment in 87 children who attended nature, blended, and traditional preschool classes within the same school district. Study results suggest that nature preschool participation was important in the context of initiative. Blended classes, where some nature-based practices were incorporated into traditional preschool classes, were sufficient in the sense of being more impactful than traditional classes on self-regulation, attachment, and the total protective factors overall. Implications are discussed within the context of the limitations of the study.
Highlights
In recent years, concerns regarding declining resilience in children have surfaced in the academic and popular literature, alongside concerns regarding increasing stress, anxiety, and depression (Grey, 2013; Masten and Barnes, 2018)
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether nature preschool fosters the growth of young children’s total protective factors associated with resilience, and how that growth compares with preschool classes where there is less incorporation of nature-based approaches and experiences
Results of the comparison of pretest levels of total protective factors scores indicate there were no significant differences across nature, blended, and traditional classes, when controlling for gender, F(2) = 0.99, p = 0.37
Summary
Concerns regarding declining resilience in children have surfaced in the academic and popular literature, alongside concerns regarding increasing stress, anxiety, and depression (Grey, 2013; Masten and Barnes, 2018). Resilience is a relevant psychological construct to explore, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Children have experienced significant stress throughout the pandemic, including quarantining at home, increased screen time, limited access to extended family members and playmates, and the anxiety of caregivers regarding getting sick (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021). While children generally and eventually return to their typical functioning, with responsive and supportive caregivers, some are at risk of developing trauma-related stress, anxiety, and depression (Bartlett et al, 2020). It is not a characteristic that children either have or do not have; yet, differences in children’s personalities and cognitive skills influence adaptive capacity, as do their connections to other people and to external systems (Masten and Barnes, 2018). Benard (2004) defines resilience as being able
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