Background

Children’s time use is a complex developmental phenomenon in need of a more in-depth, detailed understanding.

Objective

The present study aimed to provide a comprehensive description of children’s everyday lives in middle childhood and examine how different portfolios and patterns of daily activities occurring at home, school, and community are influenced by multilevel ecological factors.

Method

Based on cross-sectional, multi-informant data from a sample of Portuguese 3rd and 4th graders (n = 209), this research expands previous literature by providing a mixture of variable- and person-centered analytical approaches to children’s time use.

Results

Findings indicate that children’s everyday lives are characterized by a diversity of participation portfolios which embody multidimensional, heterogeneous, and qualitatively distinct participation patterns. A total of five different time use clusters were found: “less-active studious”, “highly-engaged players”, “less-involved after-schoolers”, “highly-active homebodies”, and “sedentary home screeners”. Both portfolios and patterns of activities significantly varied as a function of child characteristics, parental education, family functioning and culture, and the environment quality of activity settings.

Conclusions

Variations in ecological affordances and constraints may represent different levels of exposure to developmental opportunities. An ecological developmental perspective of children’s time use is necessary and useful to enlighten how families, schools, and communities can positively influence children’s lives and effectively support their well-being and growth.

中文翻译：

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儿童日常活动模式及多层次生态因素的影响

背景

儿童时间利用是一个复杂的发展现象，需要更深入、更详细的了解。

客观的

本研究旨在全面描述儿童中期的日常生活，并研究家庭、学校和社区日常活动的不同组合和模式如何受到多层次生态因素的影响。

方法

基于来自葡萄牙三年级和四年级学生样本（n = 209）的横断面、多线人数据，这项研究通过提供以变量和以人为中心的混合分析方法来分析儿童的时间使用，从而扩展了以前的文献。

结果

研究结果表明，儿童日常生活的特点是参与组合的多样性，这些组合体现了多维、异质和性质不同的参与模式。总共发现了五个不同的时间使用集群：“不太勤奋好学”、“高度投入的玩家”、“较少参与的课余学习者”、“高度活跃的居家人士”和“久坐不动的家庭筛选者”。活动组合和活动模式随着儿童特征、父母教育、家庭功能和文化以及活动环境质量的变化而显着变化。

结论

生态可供性和约束的变化可能代表不同程度的发展机会。儿童时间使用的生态发展观点对于启发家庭、学校和社区如何积极影响儿童的生活并有效地支持他们的福祉和成长是必要和有用的。