Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often have low participation and involvement in the community due to environmental barriers. Understanding how these barriers impact their participation is crucial to developing physical therapy interventions and creating more effective public policies.

Identify the frequency, involvement, support and barriers to the participation of children with CP and explore the relationship between these variables.

This is a cross-sectional study involving children and adolescents with CP, aged 5 to 17 years, followed in the PartiCipa Brasil study. The Brazilian version of the Participation and Environment Measure for Children and Youth (PEM-CY) was used. Clinical and sociodemographic information from children and family members was collected using an online questionnaire. An exploratory analysis, correlation tests, and association tests were performed.

A total of 185 parents and/or guardians participated in this study. Most children and adolescents presented GMFCS V (31.5%) and GMFCS II (27.7%), with a mean age of 8.82 years (SD = 2.75) and male gender (60%). An average attendance of 3.99 and involvement of 3.92 were observed; on average, children participated in 5 activities in the community. The activities in which children participated most frequently were neighborhood outings, unorganized physical activities and religious activities, and those with least frequency were paid work, organization of groups and classes and courses. Environmental factors showed that 47.90% of children receive average support in the community, while 46.37% face barriers. The study revealed significant correlations between the frequency and presence of environmental barriers (r = -0.196; p = 0.008), as well as between the frequency and the amount of support (r = 0.294; p < 0.001). In addition, a positive correlation was observed between support and involvement (r = 0.327; p < 0.001), as well as between involvement and barriers (r = 0.282; p < 0.001). Several environmental variables, such as Physical Layout, Physical Demands, Cognitive Demands, Social Attitudes and Actions, Atmospheric Conditions, Climate, Programs and Services, Information, Sufficient Money and Sufficient Time, showed an association with the frequency of participation. Regarding involvement, it was associated with Physical Demands, Cognitive Demands, Social Attitudes and Actions, Personal Transportation, Public Transportation, Information and Financial Resources.

Most parents or guardians do not consider related aspects such as access to personal transportation; public transportation; available time; available money; safety in the community and the child&apos;s relationship with peers as barriers. On the other hand, related aspects such as the way furniture, objects and physical structures are organized; physical aspects of usual activities in the community; access to programs and services in the community; information about participation in the community and equipment and materials were the greatest environmental barriers found that restrict the participation of children and adolescents in the community.

The results allow us to identify where greater interventions are needed to support the community participation of children and adolescents with CP.