The Role of Mother–Child Joint Play in the Early Development of Children's Conduct Problems: A Longitudinal Observational Study

This observational study examined the relationship between mother–child spontaneous joint play and the development of conduct problems in preschoolers , using a short‐term longitudinal design. The sample consisted of 60 children showing a range of levels of conduct problems , recruited at their third birthday through community health services in low SES areas. Spontaneous joint play and other mother–child activities were coded from naturalistic , unstructured observations in the home. Amount of time spent in joint play at age 3 predicted individual improvement in conduct problems at age 4 , and importantly , this association was independent of initial level of child conduct problems and hyperactivity , social class , maternal depression , and frequency of negative mother–child interactions. The amount of time the child spent unoccupied and not interacting with mother independently predicted worsening conduct scores over time. However , time spent in other activities , including joint conversation and solitary play did not predict change in conduct scores over time. The results suggest that positive and proactive parenting processes such as joint play may make a unique contribution to the very early development of conduct problems , independent of other risk factors. There was no evidence that this association was mediated by child factors such as hyperactivity and poor attention skills .