In the Living Room and Across the Screen: Intergenerational Play Between Infants and Grandparents

In-person co-play between infants and adults develops rapidly during infancy, but little research has examined how families play together over video chat. Research demonstrates that video chat may support family connections, especially with grandparents and other family members separated by physical location. However, video chat interactions also place significant socio-cognitive demands on infants that may impact the frequency and variety of family play. The present study examines predictors of intergenerational virtual play compared to in-person play. We conducted an OSF pre-registered secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal study of 47 infant-parent-grandparent triads who recorded up to three naturalistic Zoom video chats and a session when they met in person. All instances of attempted infant-grandparent play were coded for playful activity type (e.g., dancing, hide & seek), duration, and whether the infant was successfully engaged in play (e.g., responded by smiling, vocalizing or imitating). Descriptive analyses revealed variability in play between families and across sessions. To capture the variety of ways in which grandparents, parents and infants played together, we fit growth models to predict the frequency of play bouts, the number of different types of playful activities observed (play repertoire), the proportion of time engaged in play, the proportion of play bouts for which infants were positively engaged, and the proportion of play bouts initiated by infants during video chat sessions. Across analyses, age was the strongest predictor of infant play on video chat. We then compared video chat play to play during the in-person session and found that play repertoire was significantly greater on video chat than in person. This study highlights the potential of digital tools to enhance intergenerational family relationships and social interactions through play. Video chat may serve as a high-quality supplemental activity for separated families.