Parents today likely won’t be surprised to know their children have far less freedom to travel in their neighbourhoods than they did. But what they might not know is how that could affect their children’s mental health.

Dr. Richard Larouche, a Faculty of Health Sciences professor at the University of Lethbridge, and other researchers across Canada have found children’s independent mobility (CIM), which is children’s freedom to roam and explore their neighbourhood without adult supervision, has declined over the past 50 years. Researchers have also noted the decline in CIM happened at the same time as a major increase in mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and suicide among children and adolescents.

“While there seems to be an association between mental health and CIM, there was no longitudinal evidence to support the idea,”…