INITIAL STUDY ON OCCUPATIONAL BALLACE AND PARTICIPATION IN DAILY ACTIVITIES AMONG CHILDREN

Background: Participation is defined as "involvement in a life situation". Through their participation in daily activities, children develop, acquire skills and find meaning. An involvement in a wide range of daily occupations... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Participation is defined as "involvement in a life situation". Through their participation in daily activities, children develop, acquire skills and find meaning. An involvement in a wide range of daily occupations characterizes children and adults. Occupational balance is defined as a balance between the different occupations (ADL, work/education, leisure etc.) Both, participation and occupational balance are perceived as a resource for health and personal wellbeing. However, occupational balance among children was barely explored. This study aim to explore children's perceptions regarding their occupations, related to dimensions as importance, difficulty, and autonomy, derived from the occupational balance literature; and to explore whether associations exist between dimensions of occupational balance and participation.
Method:
Participants were 50 typically developing children (mean age 9.52 ± 1.78 years) and their parents. The children completed an occupational balance questionnaire (OBQ) that was develop for the purpose of the current study. The parents completed the Children Participation Questionnaire-School (CPQ-S).
Results:
A few significant correlations were found between dimensions of child's participation (diversity, independence, enjoyment and parental satisfaction) and the child's feeling of "flow" (operationalized as perception of activity "importance" vs. activity "difficulty") and "autonomy" (operationalized as the number of activities "choose" to do vs. "must" do).
Conclusion:
The subjective experience and actual participation are interconnected. The psychometric properties of the occupational balance questionnaire need to be further developed for children with and without developmental disabilities
Application to Practice:
Enhancing optimal experience through occupational therapy intervention process, maybe a pathway to accomplish our central goal, enabling participation.