Self-Regulation in School: An Investigation of 4-5-year-old Children’s Self-Regulation in Indoor and Outdoor Learning Environments

• In Event: Leveraging Wearable Sensors to Access Processes of Children’s Everyday Behavioral and Physiological Regulation

Abstract

Systematic reviews (Bikomeye et al., 2021; Mygind et al., 2021; Zare Sakhvidi et al., 2022) indicate that green space may be beneficial for children’s behavioural outcomes linked with self-regulation. Whilst improved regulation seems to occur alongside increased access to natural outdoor spaces, the mechanisms behind this remain unclear. This study uses multiple measures to microanalyse children’s self-regulatory behaviour and physiological stress in indoor and outdoor settings. We aimed to determine quantitatively whether children engaged in more self-regulated behaviour outdoors, and, if so, to explore pathways through which this occurs.

We expected resting heart rate to be lower in outdoor settings, indicating reduced physiological stress. We also expected that childrens’ overall movement levels would be elevated outdoors, with concomitant increases in our physiological stress markers. We were interested in exploring: does more physically active time associate with lower resting physiological stress? And/or - are outdoor settings associated with lower physiological stress because they offer increased opportunity for children to self-calibrate their stress, by increasing their movement levels temporarily in response to an exogenous stressor?

24 children aged 4-5 were recruited from schools in east London. Participants wore a wearable device consisting of an electrocardiogram and actigraph. They also wore head mounted cameras. Video and physiological data was collected for 16x 45-minute sessions, 8 in an indoor classroom and 8 in an outdoor classroom (matched for activities, resources and dimensions with the indoor learning environment). Sessions consisted of 10 minutes of ‘carpet time’ where children were seated for teacher-led learning and 30 minutes of ‘choosing time’ where children free-flowed around learning and play-based activities. Sound levels were measured throughout sessions using a decibel meter. Video footage was coded for incidents of antisocial behaviour. Incidents were time stamped and matched to children’s heart rate data. Video data was used to calculate the percentage of time children spent on-task during ‘choosing time’ and the longest time they spent focused at one activity.

Data collection and analysis is ongoing. Preliminary results are based on a sample of 24 children (N=16 for some specific analyses). By March 2023, we expect to have data analysed for 45 children. Behavioural outcomes linked to self-regulation were non-significantly improved outdoors. More antisocial incidents occurred indoors (M=4.3, SD= 4.2) than outdoors (M=3.4, SD= 3.1), t(24)= -1.415, p=.085. Children stayed on-task for a greater percentage of choosing time outdoors (M=73.7%, SD= 0.16) than indoors (M=70.7%, SD= 0.18) and spent longer at a single activity outdoors, t(24)=.943, p= .178.

Children’s mean resting heart rates were significantly lower outdoors (M=102.4bpm, SD= 6.7) than indoors (M=105.7bpm, SD= 10.0) t(17)=2.27 p = 0.018. But their overall heart rate is non-significantly higher outside (M=109.1bpm, SD= 7.47) than indoors (M= 107.2bpm, SD= 7.84), t(46)= -.723 p= .247, consistent with data showing significantly higher levels of activity outside (M=.035, SD=.009) than indoors (M=.022, SD=.007), t(7) = -4.28, p=.003.

By the conference presentation, further analyses will examine differences between indoors and outdoors in how short-term, phasic stress and long-term tonic stress change relative to anti-social incidents, and how these associations differ between indoor and outdoor settings.

Authors

• Molly Atkinson, The University of East London Baby Development Lab
  Presenting Author

• Gemma Goldenberg, University of East London

• Senanur Zengin, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University

• Sam V Wass, University of East London