Key Research
Outdoor Time, Screen Time, and Connection to Nature: Troubling Trends Among Rural Youth?
Key Takeaways:
- While participants spent time outdoors, they spent more on screens.
- Girls, African American students, and eighth graders showed the greatest time discrepancies.
LiveMore ScreenLess’ Summary:
The relationships between self-reported outdoor time, screen time, and connection to nature was explored in a sample (543) of sixth- to eighth-grade students across rural South Carolina.
It was found that while most youth spent time outdoors, they spent more time with electronic media. The outdoor versus screen time discrepancy was particularly pronounced for girls, African Americans, and eighth graders.
Connection to nature, linked to outdoor time, was highest among boys, White students, and sixth graders. This study contributes to growing evidence highlighting the negative influence of escalating screen time on outdoor time and connection to nature during adolescence.
Programs designed to address these troubling trends could focus on two groups at particularly high risk: girls and youth of color.
Larson, L. R., Szczytko, R., Bowers, E. P., Stephens, L. E., Stevenson, K. T., & Floyd, M. F. (2019). Outdoor Time, Screen Time, and Connection to Nature: Troubling Trends Among Rural Youth? Environment and Behavior, 51(8), 966–991.
Topics: Cognitive Development , Nature , Physical Health , Screen Time
Year: 2019
Participants: 543, 6 – 8 grade students
