TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2022//
TI  - Outdoor public recreation spaces and social connectedness among adolescents
JO  - BMC public health
A1  - Rivera, Elise
A1  - Veitch, Jenny
A1  - Loh, Venurs H. Y.
A1  - Salmon, Jo
A1  - Cerin, Ester
A1  - Mavoa, Suzanne
A1  - Villanueva, Karen
A1  - Timperio, Anna
SP  - e165
EP  - e165
VL  - 22
IS  - 1
N2  - BACKGROUND: Outdoor public recreation spaces are important settings for leisure and physical activity. Adolescents' use of these spaces may contribute to social connectedness via social interaction with peers and the community in these settings. However, research on this topic is limited. This exploratory study examined associations of frequency of visitation and physical activity in outdoor public recreation spaces with social connectedness among adolescents in Melbourne, Australia. <br><br>METHODS: Adolescents self-reported their frequency of visitation to parks, trails, beach/lake, and sports facilities; frequency of physical activity in a park, local street or path, and their street; and social connectedness. Separate analyses were conducted for visitation (n = 349, 15.4 ± 1.6 years, 58% female) and physical activity (n = 441, 15.4 ± 1.6 years, 59% female) using multilevel linear regression models. <br><br>RESULTS: No significant associations were observed for frequency of visitation to a park (B = 0.86, 95% CI = - 0.26, 1.99), trails (B = 0.41, 95% CI = - 0.61, 1.44), beach/lake (B = - 0.44, 95% CI = - 1.46, 0.57), or sports facilities (B = 0.64, 95% CI = - 0.43, 1.70), nor for frequency of physical activity in their street (B = - 0.07, 95% CI = - 0.46, 0.31), local street/path (B = - 0.05, 95% CI = - 0.43, 0.33) or in a park (B = 0.23, 95% CI = - 0.14, 0.60) with adolescents' social connectedness. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: The findings did not support the hypothesis that visiting and being active in outdoor public recreation spaces are associated with adolescents' social connectedness. Future research should consider the duration and context of outdoor public recreation space use (e.g., sports, socialising, relaxing alone) and whether different types and/or a combination of public spaces are more/less conducive to social connectedness.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1471-2458
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-12558-6
ID  - ref1
ER  -