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FATHER-CHILD PLAY DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS AND CHILD INTERNALIZING BEHAVIORS: BETWEEN ROBUSTNESS AND VULNERABILITY

Lieselotte Ahnert1, Lukas Teufl1, Nina Ruiz1

  • 1University of Vienna.

Infant Mental Health Journal
|November 10, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Parental play intensity remained consistent across child ages and genders. However, play quality varied, with fathers showing lower quality play with children, particularly those with preterm birth or adverse childhoods.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Parent-Child Interaction
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Parental play is crucial for child development.
  • Factors influencing play intensity and quality require further investigation.
  • Understanding variations in paternal play is essential for supporting child well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the robustness of parent-child play across child age and gender.
  • To investigate differences in play intensity and quality between mothers and fathers.
  • To explore the impact of paternal background (preterm birth, adverse childhoods) on play quality.

Main Methods:

  • Videotaped play observations of 400 toddlers and preschoolers with parents.
  • Parental self-reports on stress and Big 5 personality traits.
  • Assessment of child's motor, cognitive, temperament, and internalizing behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Play intensity was consistent across child age, gender, and father types (AC-fathers, PT-fathers).
  • Paternal play quality was higher with boys and unaffected by father's stress or personality.
  • Maternal play quality was higher with girls and linked to maternal competence, child acceptability, and neuroticism.
  • AC-fathers and PT-fathers showed lower play quality, which improved with child's age and cognitive scores.
  • Child internalizing behaviors were negatively associated with paternal play quality.

Conclusions:

  • Parental play intensity is robust, but quality is influenced by parental and child factors.
  • Fathers with adverse backgrounds or fathering preterm infants exhibit distinct play quality patterns.
  • Enhancing paternal play quality may mitigate child internalizing behaviors.

Keywords:
SpielintensitätSpielqualitätVater-Mutter-UnterscheidungVäter mit Kindheitsproblemencalidad del juegodistinción papá-mamádistinction père-mèreenfants prématurésfather-mother distinctionfathers with childhood adversitiesfrühgeborene Kinderintensidad del juegointensity of playintensité de jeuniños prematurospapás con una niñez adversapreterm childrenpères ayant eu des difficultés durant leur enfancequality of playالأطفال المبتسرين-الفرق بين الأب والأم -جودة اللعب-طفولة معاكسة للآباءكثافة اللعب-早期産児早產兒父母區別父親と母親の区別經歷童年逆境的父親遊びの強さ遊びの質遊戲強度遊戲質量過酷な子ども時代を過ごした父親

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