ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sport, Leisure, Tourism, and Events
This article is part of the Research TopicLeisure and Recreation Access, Inclusion, and Participation Amongst People with DisabilitiesView all 11 articles
Leisure Time Patterns of Children with and without Disabilities: A Cross-Sectional Latent Class Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- University of South-Eastern Norway, Porsgrunn, Norway
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Abstract Introduction: Leisure participation supports children's health, social inclusion, and well-being, yet children with disabilities (CWD) often face barriers to participate in organised and physically demanding activities. This study examined differences in leisure-time patterns between children with and without disabilities. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 6049 Norwegian children aged 10–13 years were analysed. Leisure time was assessed across six domains using twenty-two indicators. Latent Class Analysis identified leisure-time profiles, and multinomial logistic regression examined associations between disability status and profile membership, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Results: Five leisure profiles emerged: Home-oriented (21%), Social-oriented (14%), Aesthetic-oriented (20%), Physically-oriented (31%), and Screen-oriented (14%). In the adjusted model, and when comparing to children without disability and having the physically-oriented as the reference group, CWD were more likely to belong to the Screen- (OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.80–3.21) and Social-oriented (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.52–2.74) profiles. Discussion: CWD were less likely to be in profiles characterised by organised and physical leisure activities and more likely to be in profiles dominated by screen-based and informal activities, indicating persistent barriers to inclusive leisure-time participation. These findings underscore the importance of developing strategies that promote accessible, organised, and physical activity-based leisure opportunities, such as sports, while also ensuring sustained access to inclusive informal and digital spaces, such as neighbourhood facilities and e-sports. These efforts would support the social lives and well-being of CWD.
Keywords: Children disability, Leisure time activities, Organised activities, latent class analyses (LCAs), self-report, Adolecens disability
Received: 24 Sep 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Møller-Skau, Lorentzen, Moradi and Bauger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Christian Møller-Skau
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