Dispositional playfulness in young children: A cross‐sectional and longitudinal examination of the psychometric properties of a new child self‐reported playfulness scale and associations with social behaviour

Abstract

Most research on children's play takes a context‐dependent, adult‐focused observational approach to the measurement of play. The current two studies present the development and psychometric properties of the Child Self‐Report Playfulness (CSRP) scale, which was presented via “puppet‐show” to two samples of children. Study 1, across 98 children between 5 and 7 years of age, showed that the items of the CSRP had good internal consistency, were stable across the 6‐week test–retest period and, for the most part, showed no differential item functioning across age, gender, and language ability. Study 2 involved a longitudinal sample of children followed from Reception (age 5, N = 244) to Year 1 (age 6). Findings revealed favourable psychometric properties using longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance. Associations between child playfulness and teacher‐ and peer‐ratings of social behaviour were examined, and showed specific associations between playfulness and teacher‐rated play interaction, rather than social maturity, problem behaviour or social preference. Overall, the CSRP appears to be a promising approach to the measurement of dispositional playfulness in young children.Highlights We developed a Child Self‐Reported Playfulness scale (CSRP) to assess children's perceptions of their own playfulness. Across two separate samples, the CSRP had favourable psychometric properties, was stable across the ages of 5 and 6 and showed specific associations with teacher‐rated play. The findings of the current studies have important implications for our understanding and measurement of children's play across development.

Play-based interventions to support social and communication development in autistic children aged 2-8 years: A scoping review

“…Play takes on a wide range of forms, such as pretence, physical play, sports and digital play and has also been conceptualised as a dispositional trait or stage, e.g. 'playfulness' (Bundy, 2012;Fink et al, 2020;Skaard & Bundy, 2008) or 'playful engagement' (Godin et al, 2019a). Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show broad di erences in the frequency and nature of play behaviours compared to children with typical development (TD) or with other cognitive or developmental conditions (Boutot et al, 2005;Francis et al, 2019).…”

Play-based interventions to support social and communication development in autistic children aged 2–8 years: A scoping review

“…The conceptualisation of the role of play within such interventions as falling within 3 broad categories of ‘context’, ‘component’ or a ‘key mechanism’ will support practitioners in reflections about their own views and practices regarding play. This approach reflects the theoretical and empirical play literature that asks questions about exactly how play activities or playful engagement might promote child development (Gibson, Fink, et al., 2020; Godin et al., 2019a; Hopkins et al., 2015; Luckett et al., 2007), as well as the literature that emphasises environmental adaptation, or ‘context-based’ therapies (Bundy et al., 2009, 2017).…”

“…There is increasing research and clinical interest in the role of play in children’s linguistic and social development (Gibson, Fink, et al., 2020; O’Connor & Stagnitti, 2011; Stagnitti et al., 2016; Toseeb et al., 2020). For typically developing children, it is well-documented that early pretend play appears around the end of first year of life, coinciding with the emergence of first words (Quinn et al., 2018; Toth et al., 2006).…”

“…Play takes on a wide range of forms, such as pretence, physical play, sports and digital play and has also been conceptualised as a dispositional trait or stage, i.e. ‘playfulness’ (Bundy, 2012; Fink et al., 2020; Skard & Bundy, 2008) or ‘playful engagement’ (Godin et al., 2019a). Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show broad differences in the frequency and nature of play behaviours compared to children with typical development or with other cognitive or developmental conditions (Boutot et al., 2005; Francis et al., 2019).…”

The social and emotional foundations of learning

“…Play is a multi-faceted concept that can be thought of as a disposition, attitude or activity that is voluntary, pleasurable and intrinsically motivating (Fink, Mareva and Gibson, 2020). Many de nitions emphasize that play is undertaken for its own sake, rather than to meet external demands or immediate rewards or needs (Nathan and Pellegrini, 2012).…”