A literature review of primary caregiver perceived barriers and/or facilitators of children aged 3-11’s adventurous play & an RTA analysis exploring perceptions of adventurous play in primary caregivers of children with anxiety.

As part of the fulfilment of a Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, the author presents this thesis investigating primary caregiver's perceptions of adventurous play. This investigation includes a literature review of primary caregiver perceived barriers and/or facilitators of children aged 3-11’s adventurous play. Paper, one presents a systematically conducted review of the literature on primary caregivers and adventurous play. Seventeen papers were identified, and the findings were critically appraised, analysed, and synthesised. Utilising a narrative synthesis strategy, the following key barriers and facilitators were identified: children’s characteristics, primary caregiver’s characteristics, primary caregivers’ perceptions of adventurous play, primary caregiver and child interaction, supervision, peers, location, and safety. Paper two presents a qualitative study exploring perceptions of adventurous play in primary caregivers of children with anxiety. Eight eligible participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Reflexive Thematic Analysis was utilised and revealed three themes and eight subthemes, which described caregivers' perceptions that they encourage adventurous play due to perceived benefits, factors that influenced their perceptions, and how anxiety influences perceptions of adventurous play. Paper three is an executive summary, which is an accessible report of paper two, targeted at caregivers and caregivers of children with anxiety. Summarised are the background, aims, method, key findings, implications, recommendations, and limitations of the empirical study.