El ocio familiar desde la perspectiva de los progenitores Family leisure from the parents' perspective

Introduction. Shared leisure time in families rep-resents an opportunity for playful-educational encounters and dialogical relationships. In addition, a wide range of leisure activities are being promoted in consumerist societies. The reassessment of shared leisure time in families leads us to ask which lei-sure activities are part of a family's microculture. The contextual sensitivity of leisure also applies to family environments. Therefore, family socio-eco-nomic and cultural variables condition family leisure profiles. The study objective was thus to uncover any significant differences in types of family leisure activities according to: type of family, person answering the questionnaire, and the number of books in the household. Methodology. A descrip-tive-inferential, cross-sectional, non-experimental, and quantitative study was conducted. A total of 407 families with children in the second stage of Primary Education took part in the study and filled a ques-tionnaire on the types of activities. Using the SPSS programme, we proceeded to extract the descriptive and inferential statistics together with the socio -de-mographic variables under study. Results. Of the 16 activities contemplated in the questionnaire, televi-sion viewing and joint meals were the most frequent compared to community, outdoor and water sports. Significant differences were found depending on the type of family, the person completing the question-naire, and the number of books in the household. The widest ranges of practices were found in nuclear families, when the questionnaire was com-pleted by the mother, or in households with more than 100 books. Discussion. The results were com-patible with that of other studies that have found a lower number and narrower range of family leisure practices in societies in which individuals are bound by their work environment, reducing the amount of time they can spend with other agents, such as the family in this case. Moreover, family leisure was persistently feminised: all the burden fell on moth-ers, and mothers in single-parent situations suffered greater stress. Conclusions. It is worth highlighting the important role of social institutions, primary care-family medicine and schools in educating each family member on family leisure through their dif-ferent means of participation and counselling.