Parental perception of social risk and of positive potentiality of outdoor autonomy for children: The development of two instruments

• Published in: Journal of environmental psychology Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 437 - 453
• Main Authors: Prezza, Miretta, Alparone, Francesca Romana, Cristallo, Carmela, Luigi, Secchiano
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier India Pvt Ltd 01-12-2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Children; Cities; City; Dangerousness; Environment. Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Independent mobility; Neighbourhood relations; Outdoor activities; Outdoor freedom; Parental perception of social risk; Perception of Positive Potentiality of Outdoor Autonomy for Children Scale; Personal fear of crime; Presence of green; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Risk perception; Road traffic; Sense of community; Social Danger Perception Scale; Urban context; Urban context; Neighbourhood relations; Social Danger Perception Scale; Independent mobility; Perception of Positive Potentiality of Outdoor Autonomy for Children Scale; Parental perception of social risk; Presence of green; Children; City; Outdoor freedom; Personal fear of crime; Sense of community; Social environment; Affect affectivity; Parent; Neighbourhood; Development; Autonomy; Child; Human; Context; Urban environment; Social perception; Criminality; Psychometrics; Emotion emotionality; Risk perception; Fear
• ISSN: 0272-4944; 1522-9610
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2005.12.002

An important factor that limits children's autonomy outdoors is parental perception of social danger and traffic danger. To obtain quantitative instruments for these dimensions, this work aimed to explore the validity and reliability of three scales. Two of them describe, respectively, problematic aspects of the area of residence linked to traffic and situations of social degradation that could constitute risk factors for the child's psychological and physical safety (Traffic Danger Perception Scale, Social Danger Perception Scale). The third scale investigates parental perception of the positive potentiality of outdoor autonomy for children's maturation and growth. Interviews were conducted with 377 mothers of children between 8 and 10 years of age residing in six different areas in Italy. The results indicated weak reliability of the Traffic Danger Perception Scale, which requires further investigation, and they confirmed the reliability and the construct validity of the Social Danger Perception Scale and the Perception of Positive Potentiality of Outdoor Autonomy for Children Scale. The perception of social danger was higher in mothers who live in larger urban contexts and who have more personal fear of crime and a lower sense of community. The positive perception of children's autonomy of movement was higher among mothers who live in greener areas, who have a greater sense of community and who have more neighbourhood relations.