Navigating Children’s Risky Play: A Comparative Analysis of Saudi Mothers and Fathers

Abstract

Despite documented benefits for development, children are engaging in considerably fewer risky play activities. Research on parent gender and children’s risky play is inconsistent. Gender and cultural context shape how individuals perceive and tolerate children’s risky play. Little research exists on gender disparities in approaches to risky play in Eastern cultures, including Saudi Arabia. The study’s objective was to examine gender variations in Saudi parents’ willingness and tolerance for children’s risky play. It included 85 parents: 41 fathers and 44 mothers. Differential Item Functioning analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between mothers and fathers on three Factors Affecting Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale items. While interaction effects and predictors were not significant (p = .22–.97), the overall multiple regression model significantly predicted parents’ risk tolerance (p = .04). Within the context of other factors, gender appeared to play a complex and indirect role in determining parents’ risk tolerance.

Plain Language Summary

Exploring Saudi Mothers’ and Fathers’ Attitudes Toward Children’s Risky Play

Play is an important component of children’s physical and mental health. Play advocates argued against the excessive focus on child safety in modern society. Despite its benefits, opportunities for outdoor play among children are declining. Existing research focused on parents’ perceptions of risky play as one of the most contributing factors to children’s engagement in such activities. However, research on how parental gender affects children’s risky play is mixed. Due to the lack of studies on this topic in Eastern cultures, this research aimed at studying the views of playful risk taking among Saudi Arabian parents. We chose Saudi Arabia for this study due to established relationships for participant recruitment and to represent an Eastern perspective. We sought to explore how Saudi parents’ willingness and tolerance for risky play might differ between mothers and fathers. The study included responses from 85 parents (41 fathers and 44 mothers) to understand their views on risky play. Although the study did not find significant differences in how factors like parent gender predicted tolerance for risky play, the analysis showed that mothers and fathers differed in their responses to certain questions about risky play. While gender alone did not predict how tolerant parents are of risky play, there were noticeable differences between mothers and fathers in their responses. Gender seems to have a complex and indirect impact on parents’ attitudes toward risky play, especially when considering other influencing factors.