Associations between childhood family‐based nature activities and family relationship quality in emerging adulthood
Published date | 01 July 2023 |
Author | Dina Izenstark,Niyantri Ravindran |
Date | 01 July 2023 |
DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12714 |
RESEARCH
Associations between childhood family-based
nature activities and family relationship quality
in emerging adulthood
Dina Izenstark
1
|Niyantri Ravindran
2
1
Department of Child & Adolescent
Development, San José State University,
San Jose, California, United States
2
Human Development and Family Sciences,
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas,
United States
Correspondence
Dina Izenstark, Department of Child &
Adolescent Development, San José State
University, One Washington Square, San Jose,
CA 95192, USA.
Email: dina.izenstark@sjsu.edu
Abstract
Objective: To explore changes in family-based nature
activities (FBNA) across five developmental stages and
investigate whether frequency and type of FBNA across
the early life course is associated with greater family rela-
tionship quality in emerging adulthood.
Method: Retrospective survey data was collected from
451 undergraduate students who primarily identified as
Asian American (44.9%) and Latinx (42.7%).
Results: Multilevel models showed that participants who
showed greater stability in FBNA across the early life
course reported more positive family relationship quality
in emerging adulthood. Higher income participants’
FBNA declined more rapidly as they aged, whereas lower
income participants showed greater stability across five
developmental stages. Greater participation in social,
physical, nature, and travel types of outdoor family activi-
ties were associated with more positive family relationship
quality in emerging adulthood, whereas sports and enter-
tainment were not significantly associated.
Conclusion: Findings support the FBNA framework,
suggesting that continued participation in outdoor family
rituals across the early life course is associated with posi-
tive family relationship outcomes in adulthood.
Implications: Results are discussed in relation to the impor-
tance of studying outdoor family leisure rituals in the field
of human development and family studies.
KEYWORDS
Asian American, developmental patterns, family rituals, Latinx, outdoor
recreation
Received: 22 June 2021Revised: 4 February 2022Accepted: 19 February 2022
DOI: 10.1111/fare.12714
© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.
1276 Family Relations. 2023;72:1276–1291.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare
How to build strong relationships between family members is an age-old question. Although
there is a robust literature in the family studies field on strengthening family relationships
(e.g., Roffey, 2012), securing parent–child attachment (e.g., Bowlby, 2008; Cooke et al., 2019),
and fostering family resilience (e.g., Walsh, 2015), less attention is given to how families can use
everyday leisure activities to foster greater relationship quality. Few developmental and family
research scholars study how participation in family leisure can benefit families. In fact,litera-
ture on the benefits of participation in family leisure is missing from many of the human devel-
opment and family studies textbooks used to train future scholars and practitioners. However,
in the field of leisure studies, there is a rich literature on the benefits of family leisure (for
review, see Hodge et al., 2015), arguing that it plays a vital role in shaping family identity
(Shannon, 2021) and bringing family members together (Zabriskie & McCormick, 2001).
This article specifically focuses on family leisure that takes place outdoors. Outdoor family
leisure is an important topic to study given that participation has increased during the COVID-
19 pandemic (Rice et al., 2020). Scholars have also posited that outdoor family leisure has the
potential to benefit families more than other types of leisure contexts (Izenstark & Ebata, 2016).
There is also a growing body of research showing that outdoor family recreation is associated
with numerous benefits, including greater subjective well-being (Mansfield et al., 2018),
improved bonding and cohesiveness (Ashbullby et al., 2013; Izenstark & Ebata, 2017; West &
Merriam, 1970), and increased family communication (Cameron-Faulkner et al., 2018;
Izenstark & Ebata, 2019). Although the existing literature highlights numerous short-term bene-
fits derived from participation, less is known regarding whether frequency of participation in
outdoor family leisure and the types of outdoor activities families engage in across the early life
course are associated with greater family relationship quality in emerging adulthood.
In this study, we use the term family-based nature activities (FBNA) to describe participants’
outdoor family leisure experiences. FBNA are defined as “family leisure that takes place in nat-
ural environments …including outdoor recreation, utilization of natural environments, or fam-
ily trips and/or vacations in natural areas”(Izenstark & Ebata, 2016, p. 139). The natural
environment, within this larger construct, is characterized by direct engagement with outdoor
settings that have a higher level of greenness than features of the built environment
(e.g., buildings, noise). This definition of nature is intentionally broad to account for the many
ways families spend time together outside. We selected to use the term FBNA because of its
focus and consideration of the family and how the family system is influenced by time spent
outdoors.
Much of the existing leisure literature on race/ethnicity has taken a deficit-based approach,
and there is a need for more research highlighting how leisure-related experiences can promote
successful outcomes (Stodolska, 2018). We are particularly interested in Latinx and Asian
American emerging adults’FBNA. Latinx participants continuously report preferring to spend
time outdoors in family-oriented groups (Chavez & Olson, 2009; Gobster, 2002; Stodolska
et al., 2011). In fact, Latinx populations identified engaging in social interaction as a main moti-
vator for visiting parks more so than other ethnic groups (Whiting et al., 2017). However, even
though Latinx participants consistently identify “family”as an important motivator for outdoor
participation, few studies have specifically explored participation patterns and their association
with familial outcomes.
There has been an increase in research on Latinx recreation behaviors and preferences over
the past 30 years (Stodolska & Shinew, 2014), but fewer studies have explored the outdoor rec-
reation patterns of Asian Americans (Flores et al., 2018; Winter et al., 2004). Additionally,
within the existing body of literature, audiences need to interpret the findings regarding outdoor
recreation patterns of Asian Americans cautiously because the sample size of participants have
been so small (Whiting et al., 2017). Thus, a major goal of this study is to use an assets-based
approach to better understand how FBNA influence family relationship quality among Latinx
and Asian American participants in emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is a transitional
FAMILY-BASED NATURE ACTIVITIES AND RELATIONSHIP QUALITY1277
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