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Prior studies have described positive behavioral, emotional, and social responses to dolls in persons with dementia (PWD), but most have examined formal doll therapy in institutional settings and primarily included women. This study describes two cases of spontaneous doll interactions in male veterans who were participating in a research study of a gentle group movement program at an adult day center. A doll was present at the study site, and two participants chose to interact with it. Researchers analyzed class videos and thematically coded behavioral, emotional, and social responses to the doll. Mr. B was a 90-year-old World War II-era veteran with moderate Alzheimer's disease. Behavioral responses (n = 83) toward the doll included gazing, holding, and caressing. Emotional responses (n = 46) included chuckles, smiles, and laughter. Social responses (n = 59) involved conversations about the doll in which his ability to communicate verbally was markedly improved. Mr. C was a 68-year-old Vietnam veteran with mild Lewy body dementia. He also exhibited frequent behavioral (n = 10), social (n = 11) and emotional (n = 8) responses toward the doll. In addition, he reported having an intense, cathartic dream about the doll, crying "it brings me back to holding my son or my daughter." These case studies add to the literature supporting the benefits of doll use by PWD by describing the effects of spontaneous doll use in two male veterans. Results suggest that having dolls available and providing a nonjudgmental environment where doll use is encouraged and supported may have profound beneficial effects to diverse populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: living with a life threatening/limiting condition changes and challenges children's play. The environment is known to support participation in play, yet there is a lack of evidence highlighting its specific factors contributing to children's play. In this study, we investigated the perspectives of children living with life threatening/limiting conditions with regard to the environmental factors that are related to their engagement in play whilst receiving inpatient healthcare. Methods: twenty-seven children took part in this study. Participants were aged between 5 and 11 years, diagnosed with life threatening/limiting conditions and were receiving care at either a children's hospital or hospice in either Kuwait or the United Kingdom. Children were asked to rank-order a Q set according to their perceived importance. The used Q set composed of social and physical environmental factors. The data were analysed using factor analysis and content analysis. Findings: two shared viewpoints were identified, which represented children from both countries. For Factor 1, the children's need for social connectivity guided their answers regarding the environmental factors. For Factor 2, although children considered being surrounded by others important, their selections of the play conditions directed their play. For both factors, children had relatively little concern for outdoor and the type of play to engage in, with the exception of arts and crafts play activities, which were deemed important. Conclusions: play settings are important to support rich, social play experiences and opportunities that match children's play preferences. Children living with life threatening/limiting conditions in Kuwait and the United Kingdom have relatively similar play needs.

Although 3-year-old children sometimes simulate emotions to adapt to social norms, we do not know if even younger children can pretend emotions in playful contexts. The present study investigated (1) what emotions infants of 1-2 years old are capable of pretending and (2) the possible role of language and symbolic play in the ability to pretend emotions. The sample included 69 infants aged 18 to 31 months and their parents. Infants were administrated the Test of Pretend Play, and their parents responded to the MacArthur-Bates CDI-II inventory, part of the MacArthur-Bates CDI-I, and a questionnaire about the expression of pretend emotions. Results suggest that very young children simulate emotions. Furthermore, children's simulation of emotions was related to both symbolic play and language. Specifically, the ability to label emotions was linked to the ability to simulate them. The role of language and symbolic play in the development of the capacity to express and understand pretend emotions is discussed Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Grant/Award Number: PSI2015-69419-R Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Wiley

Resumo O objetivo desta pesquisa é compreender as brincadeiras de lutinha e as brigas vivenciadas no ambiente escolar, sob a perspectiva do cotidiano infantil, em um Centro de Atenção Integral à Criança e ao Adolescente, situado em Sobradinho II - DF. O estudo tem natureza qualitativa, de orientação etnográfica, com os aportes teórico-metodológicos das sociologias do cotidiano e da infância. O trabalho de campo foi realizado ao longo de sete meses do ano letivo de 2017, com trinta e quatro crianças, entre nove e 12 anos de idade. Os instrumentos utilizados foram observação participante, produção de desenhos e conversas com as crianças. Os registros de campo permitiram a identificação de categorias que evidenciam as brincadeiras de lutinha e as brigas sob dimensões paradoxais do cotidiano infantil, que carregam no seu bojo aspectos circundantes ao conflito enquanto mediador das relações concebidas dentro e fora da escola. Abstract This study looks into children’s play-fighting and real fights experienced in the school environment from the perspective of children’s daily life in a Center for Whole Attention to Children and Adolescents located in Sobradinho II, DF, Brazil. It is a qualitative, ethnographic study with theoretical-methodological contributions from Sociologies of Daily Life and Childhood. Field research was conducted over seven months of the 2017 school year, with 34 children aged 9-12. The instruments used were participant observation, drawing, and conversations with the children. Field records allowed identifying categories that show play-fighting and real fights under the paradoxical dimensions of children’s daily life, which carry aspects surrounding conflict as a mediator of relationships conceived inside and outside the school. Resumen El objetivo de esta investigación es comprender los juegos de lucha y las peleas vivenciadas en el ambiente escolar, bajo la perspectiva del cotidiano infantil, en un Centro de Atención Integral a Niños y Adolescentes, situado en Sobradinho II - DF. El estudio tiene naturaleza cualitativa, con orientación etnográfica y con los aportes teórico-metodológicos de las sociologías de lo cotidiano y de la infancia. La investigación de campo fue realizada a lo largo de siete meses del año 2017, con treinta y cuatro niños de entre 9 y 12 años de edad. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la observación participante, la producción de dibujos y las conversaciones con los niños. Los registros de campo permitieron la identificación de categorías que evidencian los juegos de lucha y las peleas bajo dimensiones paradójicas del cotidiano infantil, que cargan aspectos circundantes al conflicto como mediador de las relaciones concebidas dentro y fuera de la escuela.

Introduction Playgroups are community-based programs for children and families aiming to improve child outcomes, enhance family and community networks and increase parenting capacity. Despite the prevalence of playgroups in Australian communities there is a lack of research clearly articulating the key components of playgroups, specifically from the perspective of parents attending these groups. This study aimed to identify the key components of supported and therapeutic playgroups impacting on perceived effectiveness from the perspective of parents with a child with a developmental delay and/or disability. Methods This study explored the experiences of 23 parents attending supported or therapeutic playgroups using a qualitative interpretive phenomenological approach. Data were collected through three focus groups and seven individual interviews and analysed using Colaizzi's (1978) qualitative method of data analysis. Results Findings indicated playgroup components that most strongly impacted on perceived effectiveness were feeling accepted; providing opportunities for child development, socialisation and enjoyment; and enhancing parental knowledge and skills. Findings reinforced the importance of family centred practice and facilitating peer support for families of children with developmental delay and/or disability. Conclusion Supported and therapeutic playgroups emerged as a valuable model for parents of children with developmental delays and/or disabilities but require an interplay of specific facilitator, parent and child characteristics to be effective. This study contributes to the understanding of key components of successful supported and therapeutic playgroup models, highlighting the importance of engaging consumers in developing evidence-based meaningful interventions for children with developmental delay and/or disabilities and their families.

This study investigates the association between children's peer-reported expression of anger and their pretend play with aggressive/negative themes observed during spontaneous play with classmates. Participants comprised 104 Chinese children (Mage = 8.98 years, SD = 0.97, 49% girls) and were filmed playing in peer dyads with toys. Aggressive and non-aggressive negative pretend themes were coded at five-second intervals for 10 minutes. Children's expression of anger in real situations was reported by peers. Analysis using actor-partner interdependence modelling (APIM) revealed significant partner effects, indicating that children were more likely to engage in pretend play with aggressive themes when they were playing with a partner who was perceived by their peers as more easily angered. It was also found that boys were more likely to engage in pretend play with both aggressive and non-aggressive negative themes compared with girls.

Playfulness is well researched in children; however, much less is known about its impact on the well-being of adults. To investigate the relationship between playfulness and well-being in Australian adults. Participants (N = 175) completed the Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, and Whimsical (OLIW) scale for playfulness and the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA-Profiler) scale for well-being through an online survey. Multiple regression analyses with bootstrapping were completed to investigate whether playfulness predicted well-being. Six of the eight regression models analyzed contained significant predictors of well-being in adults. Adult playfulness exhibited the most robust positive relations with positive emotion, engagement while with others and during activities, relationships, finding meaning in one’s life, and overall well-being. Playfulness was significantly related to several different indicators of well-being in adults. Therefore, incorporating elements of playfulness during occupational engagement could potentially nurture an individual’s well-being. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Gender role development occurs in the earliest months and years of a child's life. Parental attitudes, behaviours and modelling are likely to play a significant role in this process; however, to date no review has been conducted to consolidate knowledge of the effects of differential parenting on child development. This systematic review aimed to investigate the evidence for differential parenting behaviours based on child gender that affect child development, across six areas (vocalisation, socialisation, play, toys, dress and décor). Searches were conducted for English article using four databases: psycINFO, CINAHL, Sociological Abstract, and SCOPUS. The inclusion criteria were biological or adoptive parents, of a typically developing child aged below five, using any parenting behaviour or strategies that differed by child gender. 45 studies were included in this systematic review (14 vocalisation, 21 socialisation, 7 play, 3 toys). A variety of gender-differentiated parenting behaviours and child outcomes were examined. The review found evidence that parents do respond differently to their children. Parents vocalised differently, used different socialising strategies, played differently and provided different toys to their sons and daughters. This differential parenting was associated with some differences in child development across child gender, including differences in child vocalisation, displays of affect, pain responses, compliance, toy play and aggression. However, the overall quality of the evidence, the lack of longitudinal studies and the heterogeneous nature of the outcomes examined suggest the need for a systematic approach to examining the nature and effects of differential parenting on children's development.

BACKGROUND: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are at higher risk of poorer mental health compared with children without DLD. There are, however, considerable individual differences that need to be interpreted, including the identification of protective factors. AIMS: Pathways from the early language and communication environment (ELCE, 1-2 years) to internalizing (peer and emotional problems) and externalizing (conduct problems and hyperactivity) problems in middle childhood (11 years) were mapped using structural equation modelling. Specifically, the role of indirect pathways via social skills (friendships, play and prosociality) in childhood (7-9 years) was investigated. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Secondary analysis of existing data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) was undertaken. The study sample consisted of 6531 children (394 with DLD). OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The pathways from the ELCE to internalizing and externalizing problems were similar for children with and without DLD. For both groups, a positive ELCE was associated with more competent social play and higher levels of prosociality in childhood, which in turn were associated with fewer externalizing problems in middle childhood. Furthermore, better friendships and higher levels of prosociality in childhood were both associated with fewer internalizing problems in middle childhood. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: A child's ELCE is potentially important not only for the development of language but also for social development. Furthermore, in the absence of adequate language ability, play and prosocial behaviours may allow children with DLD to deploy, practise and learn key social skills, thus protecting against externalizing problems. We suggest that consideration be given to play- and prosociality-based educational and therapeutic services for children with DLD. What this paper adds What is already known on this subject On the whole, children with DLD tend to have poorer mental health compared with their unaffected peers. There are, however, considerable differences and poor outcomes are not inevitable. What this study adds to the existing knowledge We demonstrate that children's ECLE is important for the development of social play behaviours and prosociality. Whilst children with DLD tend to have less competent social play and lower levels of prosociality compared with their unaffected peers, those with more competent social play and higher levels of prosociality are likely to have fewer externalizing problems later in childhood. We speculate that in the absence of adequate structural language ability, play and prosocial behaviours allow children with DLD to deploy, practise and learn key relationship skills, alongside behavioural and emotional regulation skills, thus protecting against externalizing problems. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Understanding the relationships among play, prosociality and externalizing problems may pave the way for play- and prosociality-based interventions in children with DLD. This may be particularly appealing for practitioners as such interventions capitalize on one of the most intuitive means of learning in childhood: play with friends. The likelihood of acceptability and engagement with such interventions may be higher in children than for traditional adult-led, paper-and-pencil activities.

Joint engagement involves a child coordinating their attention between a person and a shared event. Children with autism present with impaired joint engagement. Playdates are a common way that children socially engage yet have been largely overlooked in the social skills literature. Requesting skills have been conceptualized as pivotal, producing collateral effects. In the current study, we conducted a secondary analysis of a single-case design that evaluated a parent-implemented playdate intervention focused on supporting children and peers to request and respond to one another during games. We examined the collateral effects of the playdate intervention on joint engagement. Two children demonstrated gains in joint engagement with a peer, and the third exhibited variable changes. Implications for future research are discussed.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that infants spend supervised time in the prone (tummy) position to foster motor development and prevent cranial deformities. However, infants may not tolerate the position, and consequently, caregivers may avoid placing their infants in the prone position. The AAP recommends that caregivers provide toys or interaction during tummy time. We evaluated the individual and combined effects of a play mat and experimenter interaction on negative vocalizations and head elevation during tummy time-positive effects were limited. Next, we evaluated a parent-led intervention wherein mothers interacted with their infants, using a toy, while lying chest-to-chest. This intervention was associated with a reduction in negative vocalizations and an increase in head elevation for the majority of infants. Additionally, mothers rated the effectiveness of the parent-led intervention more favorably than the experimenter-led intervention, suggesting the effects of the parent-led intervention were also socially valid.

Young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often require systematic teaching to learn new skills, and caregivers can teach their children by embedding learning opportunities in a play-based context. However, researchers have not evaluated procedures to train caregivers how to implement a combination of strategies designed to establish rapport and early language skills while maintaining play as a preferred context. Caregiver-child dyads composed of 2 mothers and their sons were recruited to participate. A multiple-probe design across strategies was used to demonstrate the efficacy of behavioral skills training on the mothers' integration of parallel play, child-directed interaction, teaching requests (mands), and teaching labels (tacts). Both children acquired the target requests and labels as a function of their mothers' teaching. By assessing the children's preferences, we confirmed the teaching strategies did not decrease toy engagement or the value of playing with their mother. We obtained stimulus generalization of the mothers' implementation of the strategies from a clinic to their home and maintenance of mother and child performance across a month.

Research suggests peer imitation can be taught using systematic procedures and can be embedded into ongoing play contexts with preschool-age children. However, additional research is needed to test procedures that may increase levels of peer imitation with toddlers with disabilities and in generalized contexts. We used a multiple probe across participants research design to evaluate the effectiveness of progressive time delay (PTD) to teach peer imitation to preschoolers with disabilities during a play activity with a peer. We also examined the efficacy of PTD in a generalized context (i.e., new peers, implementer, and materials). Visual analysis indicated a functional relation between PTD and unprompted peer imitation; however, generalization was variable across participants. Our results support previous research indicating PTD is effective in teaching children with disabilities to imitate their peers.

Although individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to behave repetitively, certain reinforcement contingencies (e.g., lag schedules) can be used to increase behavioral variability. In a lag schedule, reinforcers only follow responses that differ from recent responses. The present study was designed to promote variable play behavior in preschoolers with ASD interacting with playsets and figurines and to assess preference for variability and repetition contingencies. Data have shown a preference for variability in pigeons and college students, but this effect has not been explored in clinical populations. In this experiment, preschoolers with ASD were taught to discriminate between variability and repetition contingencies. Only play behaviors that met a lag schedule were reinforced in the presence of one color, and only repetitive behaviors were reinforced in the presence of another. After differential performance was established, participants experienced a concurrent chains schedule. Participants chose between the colors taught in training and then completed a play session with the selected contingency. One participant selected variability and repetition equally. The other participants showed a slight preference for variability. These results indicate that some individuals with ASD may play repetitively, not because they prefer repetition, but because they require additional teaching to play variably.

PurposeThis study evaluated the effect of aided augmentative and alternative communication modeling (AAC-MOD) on the communication skills of children with Down syndrome (DS) during small group dialogic reading.MethodFour children with DS between 3;1 and 5;3 (years;months;M= 4;5) and 5 typically developing peers between 3;5 and 5;9 (M= 4;3) participated. Effects were examined using a multiple probe across behaviors design with 4 children with DS. To simulate typical dialogic reading routines in inclusive classrooms, a strategy calledRead, Ask, Answer, Prompt(Binger, Kent-Walsh, Ewing, & Taylor, 2010) was applied during the baseline and intervention sessions.ResultsA functional relation was demonstrated between (a) AAC-MOD and percentage of correctly identified symbols for 3 participants, (b) AAC-MOD and rate of symbolic communication for 2 participants, and (c) AAC-MOD and number of different words for 2 participants. Increases in number of multiple word combinations occurred for 2 participants. All 4 children maintained their percentage of correctly identified symbols. Increases in rate of symbolic communication did not generalize to thematic play contexts, a distal measure of response generalization.ConclusionAAC-MOD is an effective strategy for teaching target vocabulary and increasing rate of symbolic communication in young children with DS.Supplemental Materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.10093538

Purpose Although repetitive speech is a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the contributing factors that influence repetitive speech use remain unknown. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine if the language context impacts the amount and type of repetitive speech produced by children with ASD. Method As part of a broader word-learning study, 11 school-age children with ASD participated in two different language contexts: storytelling and play. Previously collected language samples were transcribed and coded for four types of repetitive speech: immediate echolalia, delayed echolalia, verbal stereotypy, and vocal stereotypy. The rates and proportions of repetitive speech were compared across the two language contexts using Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests. Individual characteristics were further explored using Spearman correlations. Results The children produced lower rates of repetitive speech during the storytelling context than the play-based context. Only immediate echolalia differed between the two contexts based on rate and approached significance based on proportion, with more immediate echolalia produced in the play-based context than in the storytelling context. There were no significant correlations between repetitive speech and measures of social responsiveness, expressive or receptive vocabulary, or nonverbal intelligence. Conclusions The children with ASD produced less immediate echolalia in the storytelling context than in the play-based context. Immediate echolalia use was not related to social skills, vocabulary, or nonverbal IQ scores. These findings offer valuable insights into better understanding repetitive speech use in children with ASD.

A child with Down syndrome, like any other child, may benefit from interacting with memory stimuli, but needs additional support and help. The use of special teaching methods, which add playfulness and use of the computer, can enhance the memory processes of these children. In this work, we present the virtual environment “Nossa Vida (Our Life)”, which was developed to assist children with Down syndrome to memorize action sequences of their daily routine. A daily routine memorization test (DRMT), consisting of a weekly reminder of typical daily routines completed by the children and parents, was performed before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the intervention. The work involved a multidisciplinary team and assessed the effectiveness of the test performed by 30 children with Down syndrome from APAE, a special education school for children with intellectual disabilities in São Paulo, Brazil. The children were separated into two groups (Experimental - GE and Control - GC) with homogeneity and normality of the data. Two hypotheses were tested in this study: H0 and H1, where: H0 = There is no statistical difference between memorizing daily tasks between individuals with Down syndrome who used our ludic virtual environment and those who used the conventional memory method.H1 = There is a difference between the group of subjects with Down Syndrome who used our virtual game environment and the group that did not use it in relation to memorizing the daily task. This produces t = -14.98 and p

The current 3-generation (N = 204 families), 3-year longitudinal study examined the intergenerational transmission of cultural socialization among Mexican-origin young mothers and their own mothers (i.e., children's grandmothers) and, in turn, whether young mothers' cultural socialization informed their children's developmental competencies (i.e., interactive play with peers, receptive language, and internalizing and externalizing problem behavior) one year later. Results indicated that mediation was significant, such that grandmother-mother cultural socialization, when children were 3 years old, informed greater mother-child cultural socialization when children were 4 years old, which, in turn, informed children's greater receptive language and interactive play with peers when children were 5 years old. Findings highlight the importance of intergenerational cultural socialization on young children's developmental competencies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

We replicated previous research in which adults with dementia tended to show a preference for leisure items over edible items when presented in the same array. Additionally, we conducted engagement analyses with the highest, middle, and lowest preference leisure items to determine whether relative preference corresponded to engagement in the natural environment. The most highly preferred stimulus for 6 out of 7 participants was a leisure item, and for each of those six the top 3 preferred stimuli were leisure stimuli. For 4 participants, the most preferred stimulus also produced the longest duration of engagement. We discuss the issues we encountered when conducting preference assessments with adults with intact vocal verbal repertoires, and suggest potential explanations for the displacement of edibles by leisure stimuli in older adults with dementia.

We characterized the reward patterns of dogs' owners for the expression of desired behaviors of their pets through a questionnaire made available online on a social media page for 7 days (responses from over 66,676 owners). The questions were related to the type and frequency of rewards that pet owners applied and what specific dogs' behaviors were rewarded. Desired behaviors of dogs were frequently reported to be rewarded. Responding correctly to commands and playing with their own toys were behaviors reported to be rewarded more frequently by owners than eliminating in appropriate places, a behavior perceived commonly just later. Moreover, owners reported that they rewarded more frequently by petting and praising the dogs and less frequently by applying a combination of giving both food and toys to their dogs. Thus, dog owners commonly reward desired behaviors by petting and prasing the dogs, most likely because it is the most convenient reward to use. Moreover, rewarding is more common when dogs express desired behaviors more immediately perceived by owners, which has welfare implications for these companion animals.

Internalizing and externalizing problems have been related to negative emotionality, and affect regulation deficits in several studies. Certain psychodynamic models of treatment use children's symbolic play activity as a medium to mentalize negative emotions in order to develop children's affect regulation. However, the complex associations among these constructs and their associations with outcome have not been examined. This study aimed to investigate, first, whether average mentalization practices in treatment, as well as session-to-session expression of negative emotions and symbolic play predict gains in affect regulation and, second, whether changes in these variables are associated with clinically significant change in symptoms and global function. The sample included 40 outpatient children, who underwent long-term psychodynamic treatment. Nine hundred seventy-five sessions were coded for children's symbolic play, affect expression (anger and dysphoric affect), and affect regulation characteristics, and each treatment was scored for average adherence to mentalizing principles. Time Series Panel Analyses (TSPA) indicated session-to session use of symbolic play predicted gains in affect regulation. A significant 2-way interaction indicated that dysphoric affect expression in high mentalization adherent treatments was associated with higher affect regulation than in low adherent treatments. Partial correlation analyses indicated that mentalization adherence in treatment was associated with symptomatic improvement at trend level of significance, and changes in affect regulation and symbolic play were significantly associated with gains in global function. Findings point to the importance of use of symbolic play, and dysphoric affect expression in the context of mentalization practices for gains in affect regulation and outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Although neurotypical children often spend the majority of their time engaged in play activities, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can present with substantial delays in the development of play skills, requiring intensive intervention. Although targets for language and basic learning skills are often selected based on the development of neurotypical children (e.g., Sundberg, 2008), little research has been conducted on methods for selecting play skill targets. The current study compared acquisition of play skills that were development-matched (DM) and age-matched (AM) with 4 children diagnosed with ASD. Targets were selected based on the results of the Developmental Play Assessment (DPA; Lifter, 2008). No contrived prompts or consequences were used to teach play skills in either condition. Generalization was programmed for by teaching with 3 sets of toys in both conditions. All participants demonstrated acquisition of DM play targets and generalization to novel toys; none of the participants acquired AM play targets.

Affordances in the home environment are critical to early motor development. Currently, the home environment has not been examined in children with deafblindness or severe disabilities. The present study examined differences in, and relationships between, the home environment and motor development in children with and without CHARGE syndrome. CHARGE syndrome is a low-incidence, complex disorder with sensory and motor impairments. Participants included 28 parents of children with CHARGE syndrome and 32 parents of children without disabilities. Children with CHARGE syndrome achieved motor milestones significantly later and had fewer outside space affordances than children without disabilities. Older children had a greater variety of stimulation and fine motor toys, and those that achieved independent walking later had more outside space and fine and gross motor toys. Early experiences may be more important for children with CHARGE syndrome than children without disabilities. Moreover, parents can play a vital role in their children’s motor development to help them reach their motor milestones.

By roughly 6 years of age, children acquire the stereotype that men are more competent than women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), potentially leading to greater trust in scientific information provided by men. This study tested whether 3- to 8-year-old children differentially endorsed conflicting information about science and toys presented by male and female informants depicted as a 'man' and 'woman' (Exp1) or 'scientists' (Exp2). Children were expected to endorse toy testimony from gender-matched informants; thus, the key question concerned endorsement of science testimony. In Exp1 (N = 149), boys and girls showed a same-gender informant preference for toy testimony; however, girls endorsed the male informant's testimony more for science than for toys - but only when tested by a male experimenter. In Exp2 (N = 264), boys and girls showed a same-gender preference, irrespective of content. Findings suggest that STEM-related gender stereotypes might lead girls to trust scientific information presented by men over women in certain contexts.

Object play yields enormous benefits for infant development. However, little is known about natural play at home where most object interactions occur. We conducted frame-by-frame video analyses of spontaneous activity in two 2-h home visits with 13-month-old crawling infants and 13-, 18-, and 23-month-old walking infants (N = 40; 21 boys; 75% White). Regardless of age, for every infant and time scale, across 10,015 object bouts, object interactions were short (median = 9.8 s) and varied (transitions among dozens of toys and non-toys) but consumed most of infants' time. We suggest that infant exuberant object play-immense amounts of brief, time-distributed, variable interactions with objects-may be conducive to learning object properties and functions, motor skill acquisition, and growth in cognitive, social, and language domains.

A repeated measures single subject design was used to examine the effectiveness of a joint play approach embedded in professional practice, in supporting pretend play for autistic children. Seven autistic children, aged 5–8 years, with a placement within a specialist educational provision, and who demonstrated restricted play, participated in weekly sessions using the Playboxes approach over a period of 3 months. Pre- and post-approach pretend play abilities were assessed using the Symbolic Play Test and the Test of Pretend Play. Every child gained increased age-equivalent scores on the Test of Pretend Play, ranging from + 8 to + 30 months. Pretend Play abilities can support developmental outcomes and incorporation of this approach into regular practice could be of value for autistic children.

Most U.S. children grow up with siblings. Theory and prior work suggest that older siblings are important sources of gender-related information and socialization. However, few studies have investigated the patterns of these associations longitudinally across early childhood. The present study examines the influence of sibling presence and gender composition on the trajectory of early gender-typed behavior and appearance in children from age 2 through 6 in a diverse sample of Dominican American (36%), African American (33%), and Mexican American (31%) mother-child dyads (N = 232; 112 girls, 120 boys) from low-income households in New York City (M = $20,459, SD = 14,632). Results found that children without older siblings spent more time playing with counterstereotypical toys and their mothers' reports indicated similar behavior over the past month (e.g., a girl playing with toy vehicles and balls; a boy playing with toy kitchen sets and dolls) than children with older siblings. Further, children with at least one other-gender sibling (e.g., a girl with an older brother) played more frequently with counterstereotypical toys compared with children with only same-gender siblings (e.g., a girl with only older sisters). Results on the relation between siblings and gender appearance were mixed. Older siblings may thus influence early trajectories of important gender domains (e.g., toy play), which can have various long-term implications for developing skills and interests. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

In this study, we test the hypothesis that symbolic play represents a fertile context for language acquisition because its inherent ambiguity elicits communicative behaviors that positively influence development. Infant-caregiver dyads (N = 54) participated in two 20-minute play sessions six months apart (Time 1 = 18 months, Time 2 = 24 months). During each session, the dyads played with two sets of toys that elicited either symbolic or functional play. The sessions were transcribed and coded for several features of dyadic interaction and language; infants' linguistic proficiency was measured via parental report. The two contexts elicited different communicative and linguistic behaviors. Notably, the symbolic play condition resulted in significantly greater conversational turn-taking than functional play, and also resulted in the greater use of questions and mimetics in infant-directed speech (IDS). In contrast, caregivers used more imperative clauses in functional play. Correlational and regression analyses showed that frequent properties of symbolic play (i.e., turn-taking, yes-no questions, mimetics) were positively related to infants' language proficiency, whereas frequent features of functional play (i.e., imperatives in IDS) were negatively related. The results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that symbolic play is a fertile context for language development, driven by the need to negotiate meaning.

Non-maternal caregivers (allomothers) are hypothesised to lighten the mother’s workload, producing human’s specialised life history where multiple dependent offspring are produced over a relatively short time period. Here, using in-depth observational data on who for cares for 78 Agta children (aged 0-6 years, a foraging population in northern Philippines), we explore whether allomaternal childcare substitutes (and thus decreases) maternal childcare. Previous work has investigated the role of fathers, grandmothers and siblings as allomothers, frequently overlooking non-relatives, particularly juveniles providing ‘collective childcare’ in playgroups. We found that mothers’ childcare was reduced by allomothers, but the substitutive effect varied depending on the source and type of care. Playgroups, by playing with children aged 2 and above, consistently predicted a decrease in maternal childcare. While few grandmothers were available, they were nonetheless negatively associated with maternal presence, and thus childcare, as they performed childcare activities, similar to mothers. These results underscore the importance of allomothering in reducing mothers’ childcare workload in the Agta. Mother’s flexibility in obtaining childcare from a range of available sources, including playgroups, may be the key to humans’ life history evolution, underling the necessity of a broad conceptualisation of social support in human childcare.

The school playground can promote PA for large numbers of children. This study identifies areas of the playground that children visited at break-times, the decisions according to gender and the influence of contextual and environmental variables on PA levels. The playground of a culturally diverse primary school was observed during morning break-times and lunchtimes. Counts of sedentary, LPA, and MVPA episodes, and the contexts in which they occurred were recorded using the system for observing play and leisure in youth (SOPLAY). Ball sports areas had higher counts of boys (mean ± SD; 9.9 ± 4.8) compared to girls (2.0 ± 3.5); areas promoting climbing and social interaction had higher counts of girls (7.9 ± 7.2) compared to boys (3.5 ± 2.9). The proportion of MVPA episodes during break-times was 34% ± 26%. Areas of the playground with organised activities had 2.70 (95%CI: 1.87 to 3.91) times higher MVPA counts than areas "not organised". Areas with "supervision" were associated with higher MVPA counts (1.34; 1.18 to 1.53) compared with "not supervised" areas. Organisation and supervision might influence PA choices and PA levels of children in the primary school playground. Further investigation is required to explore different playgrounds settings, and context and gender preferences.

Ultra-thin fashion dolls may represent a risk factor for thin-ideal internalisation and body dissatisfaction amongst young girls. We asked thirty one 5- to 9-year-old girls to engage in interactive play with commercially available dolls which were either ultra-thin (Barbie and Monster High) or represented a putative realistic childlike shape (Lottie and Dora) and to indicate their perceived own-body size and ideal body size on an interactive computer task both before and after play. There was a significant interaction between testing phase and doll group such that playing with the ultra-thin dolls led to the girls' 'ideal self' becoming thinner. A further 46 girls played with the ultra-thin dolls and then played with either the same dolls again, the realistic childlike dolls, or with cars. Initial play with the ultra-thin dolls again produced a drop in perceived ideal own body size; however, no group showed any significant change in their body ideals during the additional play phase. These data indicate the potential benefit of dolls representing a realistic child body mass to young girls' body satisfaction and do not support the hypothesis that the negative impacts of ultra-thin dolls can be directly countered by other toys.

This RCT study examined efficacy of a preschool peer social intervention (PPSI) in facilitating social engagement of preschoolers with high-functioning ASD (HFASD; N = 65). HFASD participants were randomly assigned by preschool to a 6-month intervention (play, interaction, or conversation) or a waitlisted-treatment-as-usual control group. Trained on-site therapists led the PPSI in preschools, in small (n = 3-4) mixed (HFASD/typical) groups. Results showed that all intervention groups improved over time, each mainly in its own targeted peer-engagement domain, but the control group even deteriorated on some measures. Intervention groups also showed generalization to untrained domains (adaptive skills) and settings (play complexity during preschool activities). It is advised that individualized needs-based holistic peer intervention, comprising all three domains, should be part of early ASD intervention.

Background: Play is a right for children; an essential childhood occupation influenced by their family environment. Despite increasing recognition of unstructured outdoor play benefits, children with disabilities experience limited play opportunities. Aim: To apply a capabilities approach lens to understand outdoor play decision-making by mothers of children with disabilities within a culturally and linguistically diverse community. Materials and methods: Data collection for this case study involved semi-structured interviews with five mothers of primary school-aged children with disabilities and a week-long survey that profiled their children’s outdoor play. Analysis was thematic and involved identifying barriers and opportunities at each ecocultural layer, aggregating strategies families used to address the barriers, and understanding their overall play decision-making. Findings: Mothers considered the child’s interests and abilities, valued play as both a means and ends, planned for play, and facilitated in the moment as required. Multiple factors influenced mothers’ outdoor play decisions. Mothers’ values were child-centred, positively influencing the child’s play opportunities. Conclusion and significance: This study’s capabilities lens could inform professions such as occupational therapy to support families of children with disabilities from culturally diverse communities to advocate for play opportunities across settings.

Play in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often atypical, yet consensus regarding effective occupational therapy strategies for improving play is not established. To examine the efficacy of strategies used in occupational therapy to improve play in ASD, authors completed a systematic review of papers from January 1980 through January 2019. Search terms included autism, Asperger’s, ASD, autistic in combination with play, playfulness, pretend, imagination, praxis, creativity, and generativity. Twenty papers met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Reviewed interventions included parent education, modified play materials or environments, imitation of the child, and modeling by an adult, a peer, or video. Moderate to strong support exists for the specific strategies of imitation of the child and modeling for the child, with lesser or mixed support for other strategies. Certain strategies commonly used in occupational therapy may be effective in improving the occupation of play in ASD.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the convergent validity of the PLAYfun tool, a physical literacy-based measure of movement competence, by examining its association with objectivel...

OBJECTIVE Parents' perceived benefits and barriers to participation in cognitively stimulating activities may help explain why income-related discrepancies in early and frequent participation in such activities exist. We sought to develop an improved understanding of attitudes and beliefs surrounding play among families who live in predominantly low-income urban communities. METHODS Using qualitative methods, focus groups were conducted with parents of children 2 weeks to 24 months of age who attended a primary care clinic serving predominantly low-income urban communities. Discussions were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS Thirty-five parents participated in 6 focus groups. Participants were 61% female and 94% nonwhite; 71% had children who received public health insurance. Analyses revealed 7 major themes that mapped onto the Health Belief Model's core domains of perceived need, barriers, and cues to action: (1) play as important for developing parent-child relationships, (2) toy- and media-focused play as important for developmental and educational benefit, (3) lack of time due to household and work demands, (4) lack of knowledge regarding the importance of play, (5) media-related barriers, (6) need for reminders, and (7) need for ideas for play. CONCLUSION Caregivers of young children describe many important benefits of play, yet they have misconceptions regarding use of toys and media in promoting development as well as notable barriers to participating in play, which may be opportunities for intervention. Public health programs may be more effectively implemented if they consider these attitudes to develop new or refine existing strategies for promoting parent-child learning activities.

Previous research indicates that features of speech during mother–toddler interactions are dependent on the situational context. In this study, we explored language samples of 69 mother–toddler dyads collected during standardized toy play and book-reading situations across two countries, Germany and the United States (US). The results showed that features of speech differed across situational contexts. However, situational differences were mostly found among the sample from the US but not from Germany. Few significant associations between mothers’ and toddlers’ language variables were found. Findings are discussed with regard to variations in language across situations and countries.

Phoenix et al. (1959) reported that treating pregnant guinea pigs with testosterone had enduring effects on the sex-related behavior of their female offspring. Since then, similar enduring effects of early testosterone exposure have been found in other species, including humans, and for other behaviors that show average sex differences. In humans, the affected outcomes include gender identity, sexual orientation, and children's sex-typical play behavior. The evidence linking early testosterone exposure to sex-typed play is particularly robust, and sex-typed play is also influenced by many other factors, including socialization by parents and peers and self-socialization, based on cognitive understanding of gender. In addition to influencing behavior, testosterone and hormones produced from testosterone affect mammalian brain structure. Studies using human autopsy material have found some sex differences in the human brain similar to those seen in other species, and have reported that some brain sex differences correlate with sexual orientation or gender identity, although the causes of these brain/behavior relationships are unclear. Studies that have imaged the living human brain have found only a small number of sex differences, and these differences are generally small in magnitude. In addition, they have not been linked to robust psychological or behavioral sex differences. Future research might benefit from improved imaging technology, and attention to other brain characteristics. In addition, it might usefully explore how different types of factors, such as early testosterone exposure and parental socialization, work together in the developmental system that produces sex/gender differences in human brain and behavior.

Purpose: This study examined the extent to which fundamental motor skill competence (FMSC; locomotor and object control skill competence) and perceived physical competence (PPC) predicted p...

Functions of play, which may be performed solo or in a social context, include motor training and behavioral flexibility. Play is often more common in infancy and the juvenile period, although it also occurs in adults of many species. In contrast to social play, few studies have investigated solitary play. Here, we present new empirical data on solitary water play in a subadult and two adult mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, observed on three different days between January and February 2018. Focal sampling was used to record the behavior of the individuals interacting with water. Movements included vigorous rotation of the arms, splashing the water, tilting the head, making a play face, and sweeping with the hands to create waves on the water surface. One of the episodes represents the first vigorous display of splashing water ever reported for Bwindi gorillas. Our observations highlight three significant components of mountain gorilla development and behavior: play, behavioral flexibility, and exploration.

The present study introduced an interaction based, contextually contingent method for the study of social competence among preschoolers from low income families of color. Contrary to prevailing methods that assess social competence among individual children, this study used the interacting group as the unit of analysis. The constructs of intersubjectivity and collaborative complexity were adapted for an observational measure of 277 naturally occurring episodes of children's free play. The results of a multi-level analysis demonstrated a significant impact of the flexibility of the play environment and the characteristics of the peer group on the social complexity of children's peer interactions during play. To explain the study's findings a theory of how children's collaborative competence emerges according to the features of the physical and social context is proposed. More specifically, there is a bi-directional relationship between the flexibility of space and materials in the immediate play environment and children's focus on either interpersonal dynamics or collective goals of shared activity during peer play interactions. Implications for both empirical study and theorization of children's collaborative competence is discussed. More specifically, the need for measures that consider the interactive nature of social development, include non-verbal indicators of collaborative competence and consider environmental influences on children's peer interactions is highlighted. Including consideration of collaborative competence as framed by shared activity and collective goals during peer interactions in an understanding of social competence, rather than an exclusive focus on individual development of social skills is proposed.

Infant-mother behavioral synchrony is thought to scaffold the development of self-regulation in the first years of life. During this time, infants' and mothers' physiological regulation may contribute to dyadic synchrony and, in infants, dyadic synchrony may support infants' physiological regulation. Because the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) serve different regulatory functions, the current study aimed to elucidate relations between infants' and mothers' SNS and PNS functioning and dyadic behavioral synchrony. Skin conductance (SC; SNS index), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; PNS index), heart period (HP; index of joint SNS and PNS arousal), and behavioral synchrony were assessed in 6-month-old infants (N = 140) and their mothers during a mild social stressor, the Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm (Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, & Brazelton, 1978). Synchrony was related to infants' and mothers' PNS and to mothers' broad autonomic arousal but not to SNS-specific arousal. Higher levels of behavioral synchrony were associated with lower infant RSA but with higher mother HP and RSA at baseline and in each Face-to-Face Still-Face paradigm episode. Therefore, lower RSA infants may have required more synchronous engagement with mothers to support regulation, while higher RSA, less aroused mothers may have been particularly well-attuned to infants' emotions. Findings suggest that each individual's physiological state may contribute to the behavioral functioning of the dyad. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Infants from low-income households typically spend less time exploring objects and use less mature strategies when they do explore compared to their higher-income peers (e.g., Clearfield et al., 2014 ). The current study tested a novel intervention designed to boost early object exploration in infants from low-income households. The intervention, called Play for Success, was administered through the Early Head Start home visiting program, and asked all infants to explore a toy with a caregiver for 10 min a day every day for two weeks. Forty-two 6- to 10-month-old infants were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: Social (unstructured direction), Teach Two (simple structured direction), or Teach Many (complex structured direction). Infants’ exploratory behaviors were tested three times: before the intervention, immediately following, and again four weeks later. The results demonstrated that only infants in Teach 2 maintained their level of exploration at both the post-test and 4 weeks later while infants in the other groups showed significant decreases in exploration over time. These results suggest that Play for Success is a promising new intervention, but only in the condition that included repeated simple structured direction.

Research on sources of individual difference in parental Infant-Directed Speech (IDS) is limited and there is a particular lack of research on fathers’ compared to mothers’ speech. This study examined the predictive relations between infant characteristics and variability in paternal lexical diversity (LD) in dyadic free play with two-year-olds (M = 24.1 months, SD = 1.39, 35 girls). Ten minutes of interaction for sixty-four father–infant dyads were transcribed and multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of a set of distal and proximal sources of infant influence on paternal LD. Fathers’ LD was predicted only by infant language, both standardised language scores and dynamic language measures, and was not predicted by infant age, gender, executive function, or temperament. Findings are discussed in the light of the complex interplay of factors contributing to variability in IDS and the infant's linguistic environment.

INTRODUCTION Occupational therapists are increasingly being referred children who experience reduced social competence. Ineffective use of cognitive strategies during social interactions is known to contribute to reduced social competence in children who have difficulty learning. Little is known about the nature of social cognitive strategy use or how it may be observed in children during performance of school occupations. This study aimed to explore the type of difficulties in cognitive strategy use that children experience during performance of social tasks as perceived by their parents. METHODS A retrospective chart review was used to analyse 306 PRPP@HOME (Primary) Parent/Caregiver Questionnaire responses targeting parent perceptions of their child's cognitive strategy use during social interactions. The children were in the first four years of formal schooling and identified by their teachers as having difficulties with social skills. Factor analysis was used to discover conceptual groupings amongst cognitive strategy use items. RESULTS Four factors emerged from the analysis. Factor One grouped PRPP cognitive strategy items related to organised thinking, attention and processing external sensory details during social performance. Factor Two grouped items related to higher level thinking for internal self-evaluation of behaviour. Factor Three grouped items related to focused and dual attention during social interactions. Factor Four grouped items related to performance and adjustment of behaviour to match the context of social interaction. CONCLUSION Parent perceptions indicate that children with reduced social competence experience inefficient use of cognitive strategies which organise attention, sensory perception and planning. This information can be used to specifically target programs which better support the thinking strategies which facilitate children's participation during social activities at school.

"Back to sleep" messages can reduce prone practice for infants, with potential for motor delay and cranial deformation. Despite recommendations for "tummy time," young infants fuss in prone, and parents report uncertainty about how to help infants tolerate prone positioning. We hypothesized that a Child'Space Method lesson, teaching proprioceptive touch and transitions to prone, would facilitate prone tolerance, parent behavioral support, and parent self-efficacy. This randomized study recruited parents (N = 37) of 2- to 5-month-old infants. On two visits, parents answered questions about infant behavior and parent experience, and played with their infant. Lesson group parents had the lesson following the first free play. One week later, lesson parents reported that infants tolerated more prone time and that parents showed more supportive behaviors in bringing infant to prone, as compared to waiting parents. Lesson parents' efficacy, and infant behavior during play, trended in the hypothesized direction. The study demonstrated how a lesson in preparatory touch, and gradual transitions, promoted infant prone tolerance and also parent support of rolling, side-lying, and prone positioning. The lesson could be incorporated in parent education and early pediatric visits, helping infants and parents negotiate the prone challenge and setting the stage for further parent support of infant development.Los mensajes de “volver a dormir” pueden reducir la práctica de la posición boca abajo para los infantes, con la posibilidad de un retraso motor y deformación craneal. A pesar de las recomendaciones para “mantener el bebé boca abajo,” los pequeños infantes se molestan en la posición boca abajo, y los padres reportan incertidumbre acerca de cómo ayudar a los infantes a tolerar la posición boca abajo. Nuestra hipótesis es que una lección del Método Espacial del Niño, enseñando un toque propioceptivo y transiciones a la posición boca abajo, facilitaría la tolerancia de esa posición, el apoyo de los padres al comportamiento, y la autoeficacia del progenitor. Este estudio con selección al azar reclutó padres (N = 37) de infantes de 2-5 años de edad. En 2 visitas, los padres respondieron preguntas acerca del comportamiento del infante y la experiencia de los padres, y jugaron con sus infantes. Los padres del grupo de lección recibieron la lección a continuación de la primera sesión de juego libre. Una semana después, los padres del grupo de lección reportaron que los infantes toleraron más tiempo en la posición boca abajo, y que ellos mismos mostraron más conductas de apoyo al poner a sus infantes en esa posición, comparados con los padres que estaban esperando. La eficacia de los padres del grupo de lección, y la conducta del infante durante el juego, tendió a seguir la dirección de la hipótesis. El estudio demostró cómo una lección en toque preparatorio, y transiciones graduales, estimuló la tolerancia del infante a la posición boca abajo, y también el apoyo de los padres a las posiciones de dar vueltas, descansar sobre un lado del cuerpo o estar boca abajo. La lección pudiera ser incorporada en la educación a los padres y en las visitas pediátricas tempranas, ayudando de esa manera a infantes y padres a arreglárselas mejor con el reto de la posición boca abajo y estableciendo el terreno para promover más el apoyo de los padres al desarrollo del infante.Les messages « Retour au sommeil » peuvent réduire du positionnement sur le ventre / en décubitus ventral pour les bébés, avec un potentiel de retard moteur et de déformation crânienne. En dépir des recommandations de « temps sur le ventre », les jeunes bébés sont agités dans le positionnement sur le ventre et les parents font état d'incertitude sur la manière d'aider les bébés à tolérer le positionnement sur le ventre. Nous avons fait l'hypothèse qu'une leçon Child'Space Method, enseignant le geste proprioceptif et les transitions au positionnement sur le ventre, faciliterait la tolérance au positionnement sur le ventre, le soutien comportemental du parent, et l'auto-efficacité du parent. Cette étude randomisée a recruté des parents (N = 37) de nourrissons de 2-5 mois. Lors de 2 visites les parents ont répondu à des questions sur le comportement du bébé et l'expérience du parent, et ont joué avec leur bébé. Les parents du groupe leçon ont eu une leçon après la première séance de jeu libre. Une semaine plus tard les parents ayant reçu la leçon ont rapporté que les bébés toléraient mieux le moment de positionnement sur le ventre et les parents ont fait preuve de plus de comportements de soutien pour guider le bébé à cette position, comparés aux parents attendant. L'efficacité des parents à la leçon et le comportement du nourrisson durant le jeu allaient dans le sens de la direction de l'hypothèse, L’étude démontre comment une leçon en geste préparatoire et transitions graduelles a promu la tolérance du bébé à cette position et aussi le soutien parental au positionnement de roulage, de position couchée sur le côté et sur le ventre. Cette leçon pourrait être incorporé dans l’éducation parentale et les premières visites pédiatriques, aidant les bébés et les parents à négocier le défi posé par la position couché sur le ventre et ouvrant la voie à une soutien supplémentaire du parent au développement du bébé.“Back to sleep”-Botschaften können dazu führen, dass weniger Übungen in Bauchlage bei Säuglingen praktiziert werden, was mit dem Risiko für motorische Verzögerungen und Schädeldeformationen einhergehen kann. Trotz Empfehlungen zur “tummy time” sind junge Säuglinge anfällig für Bauchschmerzen und Eltern berichten von Unsicherheiten darüber, wie sie Säuglingen helfen können, die Bauchlage zu tolerieren. Wir haben angenommen, dass eine Lektion der „Child'Space Method“ - die propriozeptive Berührungen und Übergänge in die Bauchlage vermittelt - die Toleranz der Bauchlage, unterstützendes Elternverhalten und die Selbstwirksamkeit der Eltern begünstigen würde. Diese randomisierte Studie rekrutierte Eltern (N = 37) von 2-5 Monate alten Säuglingen. Im Rahmen von zwei Besuchen beantworteten die Eltern Fragen zum Verhalten der Säuglinge und zu Erfahrungen als Eltern und spielten mit ihrem Säugling. Die Eltern der Übungsgruppe hatten die Lektion nach dem ersten freien Spiel. Eine Woche später berichteten die Eltern der Übungsgruppe, dass ihre Säuglinge die Bauchlage länger tolerierten und die Eltern unterstützten ihre Säuglinge mehr, in Bauchlage zu gelangen, verglichen mit den auf die Intervention wartenden Eltern. Die Wirksamkeit der Eltern und das Verhalten der Kinder während des Spiels tendierten in die angenommene Richtung. Die Studie zeigte wie eine Lektion in vorbereitender Berührung und schrittweisen Übergängen, die Toleranz der Bauchlage beim Säugling und auch die Unterstützung der Eltern bei der Roll-, Seiten- und Bauchlagerung förderte. Die Lektion könnte in die Elternbildung und in frühe pädiatrische Besuche integriert werden, indem Säuglingen und Eltern geholfen wird, die Herausforderung der Bauchlage zu meistern und die Voraussetzungen für eine weitere Unterstützung der kindlichen Entwicklung durch die Eltern geschaffen werden.一緒に、タミー・タイムに移ろう: 触れることと移行が親の自信と乳児の発達を助ける 「眠るときは仰向けに」のメッセージは、乳児のうつ伏せの練習を減少させ、運動遅滞や頭蓋変形のリスクを伴う。「タミー・タイム」が推奨されながら、乳児がうつぶせにされると苛立ち、親はどうしたらうつ伏せのままでいられるよう助けてあげられるかわからない、と報告している。我々は、固有知覚にはたらきかける接触と、うつ伏せへの移行のし方を教えるChild'Space Methodのレッスンがうつ伏せへの耐性、親の行動支援、親の自己効力感を促進すると仮説を立てた。この無作為化された研究では、月齢2～5か月の乳児の親(N = 37)を募集した。2回の参加において、親は乳児の行動と親の体験についての質問に答え、わが子と遊んだ。レッスンを受けるグループの親は、最初の自由遊びに引き続いてレッスンを受けた。1週間後、待機グループの親に比べて、レッスングループの親は、乳児が今までより長くうつ伏せでいられると報告し、親は乳児をうつ伏せに持っていくのに、より多くの援助のしぐさを示した。レッスングループの親の効力感、遊びの間の乳児の行動は、仮説を指示する傾向を示した。この研究では、うつ伏せを始める前の触れ方とゆっくりと変えていくことについてのレッスンが、いかに乳児のうつ伏せへの耐性、また寝返り、側臥位、うつ伏せの親の援助を促進するかが示された。レッスンは、親教育や早期の小児科受診、乳児と親がうつぶせ姿勢への挑戦を乗り越えていけるように支援すること、そして乳児の発達への親のさらなる援助を設定していくこともできるであろう。.共同融入肚子時間:觸摸和過渡幫助父母的信心和嬰兒發展 “回到睡眠”信息可以減少嬰兒的俯臥行為, 可能導致動作發展遲緩和顱骨變形。儘管有關於“肚子時間”的建議, 但年幼的嬰兒容易出現問題, 父母並報告不知如何幫助嬰兒容忍俯臥位。我們假設兒童空間方法課程, 教授本體感受觸覺和過渡到俯臥行為, 將促進容忍俯臥丶父母支持行為和父母自我效能。這項隨機研究招募了2-5個月大嬰兒的父母 (N = 37) 。在2次訪問中, 父母回答有關嬰兒行為和父母經歷的問題, 並與他們的嬰兒一起玩耍。第一場自由玩耍後, 課程組的父母上了課。一周之後, 與等待組的父母相比, 課程組的父母報告說, 嬰兒較易忍受較多的俯臥時間, 父母並表現較多的支持行為。課程組父母的自我效能和遊戲中的嬰兒行為, 趨向假設的方向。本研究表明, 預備性觸摸和逐漸過渡促進嬰兒忍受俯臥, 以及父母對滾動丶側臥和俯臥的支持。這課程可以納入父母教育和早期兒科就診, 幫助嬰兒和父母應付俯臥挑戰, 並為父母進一步支持嬰兒發展奠定基礎。.وقت ألعاب البطن مع الطفل: اللمس والمراحل الانتقالية تعزز ثقة الوالدين ونمو الرضيع رسائل “العودة إلى النوم” يمكن ان تقلل من ممارسة الرضيع لوضع الاستلقاء على البطن ، مما يعمل على تأخير النمو الحركي وتشوه الجمجمة. وعلي الرغم من التوصيات المتعلقة بأهمية “وقت البطن” للرضع ، فان الأطفال يتذمرون من وضع الاستلقاء على البطن ، والوالدين يبلغون عن عدم اليقين حول كيفية مساعدة الرضع علي تحمل هذا الوضع. نفترض في هذه الدراسة ان استخدام منهج مساحة الطفل (Child'Space) ، والتدريب على الإحساس باللمس والمراحل الانتقالية لوضع الاستلقاء كلها عوامل تساعد على تحمل الطفل لوضع الاستلقاء والدعم السلوكي الوالدين ، والكفاية الذاتية للوالدين. اشتملت عينة الدراسة على آباء وأمهات (N = 37) لرضع في أعمار من 2 إلى 5 شهور. بدأت الدراسة من خلال زيارتين أجاب فيها الوالدان علي اسئله حول سلوك الرضيع وتجربة الرعاية الوالدية ، كما قاما باللعب مع رضيعهما. وبعد أول جلسة لعب حر حصلت أحد المجموعات على الدرس الخاص بتدريب الطفل على استخدام حواسه. وبعد أسبوع ، أفاد الاباء ان الرضع كانوا أكثر تقبلا لمزيد من وقت الاستلقاء على البطن ، كما أظهر الآباء والأمهات سلوكيات أكثر دعما في توجيه الطفل لوضع الاستلقاء ، بالمقارنة مع الاباء الذين لم يتلقوا دروسا في هذا الأسلوب. أوضحت النتائج أن كفاية الآباء في مجموعة التدريب وسلوكيات الطفل أثناء اللعب كانت في الاتجاه المتوقع للدراسة. وأظهرت الدراسة كيف ان تقديم الدروس في كيفية التعامل باللمس مع الرضع ، والانتقال التدريجي يعزز تحمل الرضيع لوضع الاستلقاء ، وأيضا دعم الوالدين لوضع التقلب ، والنوم على الجانبين ، والاستلقاء على البطن . ويمكن ادراج هذا الدرس في تعليم الوالدين والزيارات المبكرة للأطفال ، مما يساعد الأطفال الرضع والاباء علي مناقشة صعوبات هذا الوضع ويتيح المجال لمزيد من دعم الوالدين لنمو الرضيع.

The aim of this study was to develop a measurement approach to assess the learning opportunities provided by parents to their young children with autism spectrum disorder during a free play task and to examine the relationship between learning opportunities and child performance on measures of cognition, autism spectrum disorder symptoms, and language. Participants were 91 children with autism spectrum disorder ages 12–24 months and their parents. Ordinary least squares regression was used. Results showed that children whose parents provided more learning opportunities had significantly higher cognitive scores and significantly higher vocabulary comprehension and production. The psychometric properties of the measurement approach were investigated and results indicated that it may be psychometrically sound.

Contradictory reports of play strengths and weaknesses for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) persist in the literature. We compared the play of 19 children with ASD to 19 typically developing (TD) children matched on language and cognitive skills. All children were verbal. Results revealed no differences in indiscriminate actions, functional play, and object interest. The children with ASD showed less symbolic play and a significantly fewer number of children met criteria for emerging or mastered symbolic play. A specific deficit was observed for “doll as agent” symbolic play. Outcomes suggest that compared to children without disabilities, children with ASD may have comparable functional play skills and struggle with the transition to some, but not all types of symbolic play.

Contains fulltext : 198132pub.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Background: Children with visual impairments (VIs) face challenges in social play activities, which limits their opportunities to practice social skills. Aims: We investigated whether augmented toys were effective to facilitate play in 52 children with VIs who attended special schools for students with visual impairments and blindness. Methods and procedures: 52 children with VIs (mean age: 9.22 years, SD = 2.07) played three times with both an augmented and a non-augmented toy. A Playmobil® knight's castle was augmented with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, such that each play figure produced audio feedback during play. The RFID-technology could be activated and deactivated. Social and cognitive aspects of play were coded from video and data were analyzed using multilevel logistics. Outcomes and results: Children showed less disengagement and more parallel play, but less cooperative play when they used the augmented versus the non-augmented castle. This pattern persisted after repeated play sessions with both toys. Conclusions: The addition of sounds to physical toys increased shared attention between children with VIs during the exploration of play materials, yet it interfered with social interaction during peer play. 12 p.

Outdoor play and independent, neighborhood activity, both linked with healthy childhood development, have declined dramatically among Western children in recent decades. This study examines how social, cultural and environmental factors may be hindering children’s outdoor and community-based play. A comprehensive survey was completed by 826 children (aged 10–13 years) and their parents from 12 schools (four each urban, suburban and rural) from a large county in Ontario, Canada. Five multilevel regression models, controlling for any school clustering effect, examined associations between outdoor play time per week and variable sets representing five prevalent factors cited in the literature as influencing children’s outdoor play (OP). Models predicted that younger children and boys were more likely to spend time playing outdoors, involvement in organized physical activities, other children nearby to play with, higher perception of benefits of outdoor play, and higher parental perceptions of neighborhood social cohesion also predicted more time in outdoor play. Time outdoors was less likely among children not allowed to play beyond home without supervision, felt they were ‘too busy’ with screen-based activities, and who reported higher fears related to playing outdoors. Study findings have important implications for targeting environmental, cultural and policy changes to foster child-friendly communities which effectively support healthy outdoor play.