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The Affect in Play Scale: confirmatory factor analysis in elementary school children
Daphne Chessa1, Daniela Di Riso, Elisa Delvecchio
1Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e dell'Educazione, Università di Perugia. daphne.chessa@gmail.com
Psychological Reports
|March 17, 2012
Summary
This study validated the Affect in Play Scale for measuring pretend play in Italian children. Results confirmed its two-factor structure and found no significant differences based on sex or age.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Pretend play is crucial for child development.
- The Affect in Play Scale measures pretend play empirically.
- Understanding play's cognitive and affective components is important.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the construct validity of the Affect in Play Scale.
- To assess the scale's structure in Italian children aged 6-10.
- To investigate potential sex and age-related differences in play factors.
Main Methods:
- Confirmatory factor analysis was used.
- A sample of 519 Italian children (ages 6-10) participated.
- The Affect in Play Scale was administered.
Main Results:
- A correlated two-factor structure (cognitive and affective) was identified.
- No significant differences in factor scores were found for sex.
- No significant differences in factor scores were found for age.
Conclusions:
- The Affect in Play Scale demonstrates good construct validity.
- The scale's cognitive and affective factors are robust across sexes and ages in this sample.
- This supports the scale's use in similar populations.
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