Playfulness in preschool children : a preliminary investigation into the impact of parental characteristics and child abuse and neglect

Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2015. Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-241) The importance of playfulness as an essential attribute for occupational therapists to consider has been demonstrated by its significant links with coping skills, creativity and divergent thinking. Consequently, it is a particularly important attribute for young children, though few studies have examined playfulness in preschool children, and existing studies have tended to have very small sample sizes. Further, recent research has examined playfulness in children with a range of disabilities. However, very little research has been conducted into potential precursors of playfulness such as parenting practices, parent characteristics and security of attachment, particularly studies that use rigorous methods of measuring playfulness in children. Such research is vital, as further investigation of potential precursors may provide direction for the development of effective interventions. The current investigation consisted of three exploratory studies. The first study examines playfulness in a sample of 118 preschool children in metropolitan Adelaide. The second study, in a sample of 122, aims to investigate whether parental mind mindedness (ability to view one's child as an individual with his or her own mental state), parenting practices,parent playfulness and/or children's attachment behaviour are associated with playfulness in these children. The third study examines both descriptive statistics and the playfulness profiles of a small group of 5 children who have experienced child abuse and/or neglect in order to determine whether there are differences in playfulness between participants in study 2 and study 3.