Abstract

We conducted a focused search of nine pre-determined leisure journals to (1) determine the prevalence and scope of research on children younger than 6 years (i.e., young children) published in leisure-focused outlets, (2) describe study designs and research methods used to study this age group, (3) tabulate definitions of child leisure, and (4) provide an overview of the studies’ findings. Overall, findings indicate a marked absence of young children from leisure research. Only 28 articles in almost half a century of leisure journal publications met inclusion criteria. Eight studies focused on children as the subject or participant, five articles relied on parents’ or teachers’ reports of their children’s leisure, and 15 articles studied the leisure of parents of children younger than 6 years. We conclude children’s voices are missing in leisure publications and discuss the implications this has for the study of leisure in young children and families.

摘要

我们对九种预先确定的休闲期刊进行了重点搜索，以 (1) 确定在以休闲为重点的媒体上发表的 6 岁以下儿童（即幼儿）的研究流行程度和范围，(2) 描述研究设计和研究用于研究这个年龄组的方法，(3) 将儿童休闲的定义制成表格，以及 (4) 提供研究结果的概述。总体而言，调查结果表明，休闲研究中明显缺乏幼儿。在近半个世纪的休闲期刊出版物中，只有 28 篇文章符合纳入标准。8 项研究以儿童为研究对象或参与者，5 篇文章依赖于父母或老师对孩子闲暇的报告，15 篇文章研究了 6 岁以下儿童的父母的闲暇。