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Abstract

Social‑emotional functioning in early childhood is a strong predictor of later academic achievement, mental health, and social adjustment. Research on outdoor risky or adventurous play highlights potential benefits for social skills, emotion regulation, and prosocial behaviour. Utilizing both areas of research, Social emotional learning (SEL) profiles at kindergarten were examined in a sample of 14,609 children in British Columbia, Canada using teacher reported SEL through the Early Development Instrument (EDI) and parent‑report measure of children’s disposition toward, and opportunity for, risky play through the Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (CHEQ). Mean‑level comparisons relative to Class 1 (Overall high SEL profile) indicated Class 2 (Compliant–Reserved) and Class 3 (Moderately Compliant–Anxious) profiles showed lower disposition and opportunity than Class 1, whereas Class 4 (Moderately Compliant–Restless) Class 4 and Class 5 (Non‑compliant and Disruptive) profiles showed higher levels on both, suggesting broad alignment between children’s inclination and affordances. In contrast, the Class 6 (Overall Low SEL) combined elevated disposition with reduced opportunity, suggesting a mismatch between interest and access. Mediation models suggested that opportunity partly explained lower risky‑play dispositions in some compliant profiles, fully explained them in others, and showed an inconsistent mediation pattern for Class 6 (Overall Low SEL group), where opportunity also appeared to constrain dispositions. Moderation analyses showed that the opportunity–disposition link was stronger for females, especially those in anxious profiles. Implications of how parents and educators understand risky play across SEL groups are discussed.