Evidence for Protective Effects of Peer Play in the Early Years: Better Peer Play Ability at Age 3 Years Predicts Lower Risks of Externalising and Internalising Problems at Age 7 Years in a Longitudinal Cohort Analysis

Abstract

Peer play ability may be a protective factor against childhood mental health difficulties but there is lack of empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. We conducted longitudinal structural equation modelling study over a population cohort (N = 1676) to examine the effect of age 3 peer play ability on children’s age 7 mental health outcomes (measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire subscales). We modelled effects for the entire population and two sub-groups at high-risk for mental health problems based on age 3 temperament. Controlling for demographic variables, temperament, maternal distress, play with parents and number of siblings, better peer play ability at age 3 years predicted lower risk of problems on all 4 SDQ subscales at age 7 years for the general population. For the low-persistence subgroup, better peer play ability at age 3 predicted lower risk of age 7 hyperactivity, emotional and peer problems, whereas better peer play ability at age 3 predicted only lower risk of age 7 hyperactivity for the high-reactivity group. Taken together our results provide evidence that supports the hypothesis that early peer play ability may be a protective factor against later mental health difficulties. We conclude that further research aimed at establishing causation is worth pursuing.

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Relationship between Play Performance and Psychosocial Problems in School-Aged Children

“…The potential link between deficits in non-play related executive functioning and internalizing and externalizing problems have been reported in previous research [ 35 , 36 ] but not within the specific context of play performance. The strong relationships found in this work regarding executive functioning during play and internalizing and externalizing psychosocial problems suggest that higher cognitive aspects of play may have a relevant role on the development of psychosocial problems, thus expanding and contributing to support the hypothesis of Zhao and Gibson [ 21 ] regarding the mediating role of social cognition and self-regulatory skills on the influence of peer play over mental health outcomes during middle childhood.…”

“…Influence of peer social play on mental health during early and middle childhood has been previously explored. For instance, both cross-sectional and longitudinal data show that better peer and parent play ability at a young age is a protective factor against later internalizing and externalizing problems for the general population [ 11 , 21 ].…”

“…According to previous research, it was expected to find a medium-to-large correlation between play-related factors and psychosocial problems in children [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Thus, a minimum sample size of 138 children was used to measure a correlation of r ≥ 0.3 [ 27 ] with sufficient confidence and power (α = 0.05; power (1 − β) = 0.95).…”

“…Therefore, one of the most investigated benefits of play on childhood development is the influence of peer play ability on childhood mental health and psychosocial skills. Based on accumulative experimental and exploratory research [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], Zhao and Gibson [ 21 ] proposed a theoretical explanation of the relationship between peer play competence and mental health outcomes during early and middle childhood through social cognition and self-regulatory skills. According to this model, early peer play competence promotes socio-cognitive and self-regulation skills that will facilitate engagement in high-quality peer relational networks, which in turn contributes to a lower risk for later psychosocial issues such as anxiety and depression.…”

“…Overall, previous research has investigated the potential links between the social aspects of play and mental health outcomes in childhood and adolescence [ 21 ]. However, a comprehensively analysis of the relationship between the broad range of play performance aspects and psychosocial problems in typically developing children is lacking.…”