Table 3.

Correlates of outdoor time

Factors within SEM examined	Association		Consistency of association		Summary of evidence  (consistent correlate (“+ +” or “– –”) is in bold)
	Studies	Direction	Consistency (%)	Direction/ strength
INDIVIDUAL (7 identified3/10 examined3)
Demographic					‘ − ’ (3/4): Sex/gender (girls), Race/ethnicity (African Americans), immigration status (immigrated)
Age (results from 2 to 12 years only; including grade)	[83]*, [98, 128]b:weekday	∅	3/7 = 43%	∅
	[87]*, [128]b:weekend	+	2/7 = 29%
	[54]*; [55]*	–	2/7 = 29%
Sex/Gender (girls)	[41]*; [42]*; [55]*; [56]*; [75]*; [83]*; [128]b:weekend	∅	7/15 = 47%	−?
	[53]*; [54]* [75];*; [80]*; [87]*; [93]*; [123]*; [128]b:weekday	–	8/15 = 53%
Race/ethnicity (African American)	[87] (Caucasian/Hispanic)*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Immigration status (immigrated)	[55]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Physical					‘ − ’ (1/2): Weight status (overweight)
Weight status (overweight)	[101]	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Health status (healthy)	[69]*	∅	5/7 = 71%	∅∅
Nasal congestion	[69]*	∅
Asthma attacks	[69]*	∅
Frequent swollen glands	[69]*	∅
Diabetes	[69]*	∅
Trouble sleeping	[69]*	–	2/7 = 29%
Feeling tired or having low energy	[69]*	–
Behavioral/Temperament					‘ + ’ (2/4): Physical activity levels, outdoor tendencies ‘ − ’ (1/4): Indoor tendencies
Physical activity levels	[55]; [133]* (MVPA)	+	2/2 = 100%	+
Screen time	[128]b:weekend	∅	1/3 = 33%	∅
	[128]b:weekday for computer use	+	1/3 = 33%
	[128]b:weekday for tv viewing	–	1/3 = 33%
Outdoor tendencies	[54]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Indoor tendencies	[54]	–	1/1 = 100%	–
PARENTAL (5 identified3/13 examined3)
Parental sociodemographic					‘ + ’ (1/5): Parental education
Parental education	[75]* (father’s)	∅	1/2 = 50%	+?
	[98]	+	1/2 = 50%
Parent in workforce	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
SES/Household income	[75]*	∅	1/3 = 33%	∅
	[128]	+	1/3 = 33%
	[55]*	–	1/3 = 33%
Car ownership	[98]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Home ownership	[98]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Parenting style/practice					‘ − ’ (1/3): No adults to supervise active play outside after school
Rules and restrictions	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Child must be supervised while playing outside	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
No adults to supervise active play outside after school	[54]	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Parental psychological characteristics
Attitude					‘ + ’ (2/4): Parental attitude towards nature, crime safetyb
Towards nature	[69]*	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Towards child’s outdoor recreation	[69]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Concerns
Traffic safety	[128]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Crime safety	[128]b:weekend	∅	1/2 = 50%	+?
	[128]b:weekday	+	1/2 = 50%
Parental support					‘ + ’ (1/1): Parental encouragementc
Parental encouragement	[54]c:boys	∅	1/2 = 50%	+?
	[54]c:girls	+	1/2 = 50%
MICROSYSTEM DIMENSIONS (6 identified3/12 examined3)
Proximal social environment					‘ + ’ (1/5): Social network
Total number of siblings	[54, 75]	∅	2/2 = 100%	∅
Dog ownership	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Social trust and cohesion	[73]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Social opportunities	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Social network	[73]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Proximal physical environment (Home)					‘ + ’ (3/8): Housing type (detached), residential building characteristics, screen in child’s bedroomb ‘ − ’ (2/8): Residential building density, access to mediab
Housing type (detached)	[55]*	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Duration of residency	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Building characteristics
Number of stories in child’s residence building	[75]*	∅	1/4 = 25%	+?
Living in a building with outdoor space	[75]*	+	2/4 = 50%
Lives in neighbourhood with dead-end	[75]	+
Level of residence floor	[75]	–	1/4 = 25%
Density-Total building footprint area	[75]	–	2/2 = 100%	–
Density-Gross building floor area	[75]*	–
Access to media	[128]b:weekend	∅	1/2 = 50%	−?
	[128]b:weekday	–	1/2 = 50%
Yard size	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Home PA opportunities	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Screen in child’s bedroom				+?
Computer	[128]	∅	3/5 = 60%
TV	[128]b:weekend	∅
Non hand-held video game player	[128]b:weekend	∅
TV	[128]b:weekday	+	2/5 = 40%
Non hand-held video game player	[128]b:weekday	+
INSTITUTIONAL (5 identified3/5 examined3)
Timing					‘ + ’ (2/5): Time of the day (during school hours), % total vegetation in childcare center ‘ − ’ (3/5): Days of the week (weekdays), school-level SESb, Shade factor in childcare centre
Time of the day (school hours)	[56] (first hour after school)*	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Days of the week (weekdays)	[47]	∅	1/2 = 50%	−?
	[55]*	–	1/2 = 50%
Childcare/school Environment
School-level SES	[98]b:weekday	∅	1/2 = 50%	−?
	[98]b:weekend	–	1/2 = 50%
% total vegetation in childcare	[52]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Shade factor in childcare	[52]	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Country membership of childcare centers	[70]*	Australia > Canada
MACROSYSTEM DIMENSIONS/COMMUNITY (8 identified3/19 examined3)
Built Environment					‘ + ’ (3/19): Size of the community (small), adjacent space, neighborhood safety ‘ − ’ (5/19): Residential area, mixed-use building area, under-construction area, street intersection density, gridiron street pattern
Size of the community (small)	[55]*	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Land-use (total footprint and gross floor areas)
Residential area	[75]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Commercial area	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Institutional building area	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Mixed-use building area	[75]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Under-construction area	[75]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Availability/accessibility
Adjacent space	[75]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Local destinations	[54]	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Travel
Easy to walk	[73]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
Street width	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Traffic volume	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street capacity-street used mainly by pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street capacity-Street used by all types of vehicles, except buses and trucks	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street capacity-Street used by all types of vehicles	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street intersection density	[75]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Unplanned street development	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street pattern-spontaneous street pattern	[75]*	∅	1/1 = 100%	∅
Street pattern-gridiron street pattern	[75]*	–	1/1 = 100%	–
Neighbourhood safety	[75]	+	1/1 = 100%	+
PHYSCIAL ECOLOGY/PRESSURE FOR MACROSYSTEM CHANGE (2 identified3/2 examined3)
Natural Environment					‘ + ’ (1/2): Rurality ‘ − ’ (1/2): Seasonality
Seasonality (Fall/Winter)	[54]	∅	1/4 = 25%	–
	[55]*; [56]*; [57]*	–	3/4 = 75%
Rurality (vs suburban/urban)	[98]	∅	1/5 = 20%	++
	[57]*, [55]*, [58, 80]*	+	4/5 = 80%

¹Direction: ‘∅ ’ = No association; ‘ + ’ = Positive association; ‘ − ’ = Negative association

²Consistency: 0-33% observations reporting an association (‘ Ø ’: No association); 34-59% observations reporting an association (‘ + ?’: Positive association; ‘ − ?’: negative association); 60-100% observations reporting an association (‘ + ’: Positive association; ‘ − ’: Negative association). When 60-100% of ≥ 4 observations reporting an association (‘ ++ ’: Consistent positive association; ‘ − − ’: Consistent negative association; ‘ØØ’: Consistent no association)

³Factors examined indicate the correlates that are hypothesized and tested in different studies while factors identified indicate the correlates that are potentially important based on the consistency of association

*Unadjusted findings only

^aAge-stratified findings available

^bWeekday-weekend stratified findings available

^cSex/gender-stratified findings available

SEM Socio-ecological modelling