Intersectionality in facilitators of active outdoor recreation in parks and protected areas

Abstract

This study applied an intersectionality framework to explore differences in facilitators of Active Recreation Outdoors (ARO) based on race/ethnicity and income, while controlling for age, education, and gender. Data were collected via a national Qualtrics online panel survey (N = 556) of U.S. adults in Fall 2022. Findings indicate that racial equity facilitators are related to age and vary based on race/ethnicity. Racial equity facilitators were generally most important to Black respondents, followed by Latino and Asian respondents, and were less important to White respondents. These results suggest that ARO managing agencies can encourage sustained, increased, or new participation in ARO by focusing on increasing diverse representation, supporting ARO role models in underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, enhancing outreach and communication efforts, and ensuring that parks are welcoming and contain facilities conducive to diverse uses.