Abstract
There is extensive research on how prosocial behaviour develops in young children, however, research on the link between children’s prosocial behaviour and exposure to nature is scarce and consists mainly of cross-sectional studies. The aim of this study was to examine if there are links between children´s exposure to a variety of natural environments and the development of prosocial behaviour in children aged 3 to 7, while controlling for maternal education and gender. The study also examined if time spent outdoors act as a moderating link between exposure to different nature contexts and prosocial behaviour. The current study was part of “the Matter of the First Friendship”, where participants were followed longitudinally from 2006 to 2009 with annual data collections. Teachers rated prosocial scores by filling out the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for a total of 562 children (298 girls and 264 boys). The sample consisted of five cohorts of children born between 2000 and 2005. Daycare managers provided information about the daycare centre lots, which was the baseline for the measure concerning nature contexts. The research questions were addressed with multilevel linear regression, using growth curves. Results indicate a link between prosocial development and activities at a campground cite, and to some degree passive exposure to wilderness. The findings also indicated that there was a link between time spent outdoors and prosocial behaviour, however, this link disappeared when exposure to wilderness and campground activities were added to the model.