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The Role of Mother–Child Joint Play in the Early Development of Children's Conduct Problems: A Longitudinal Observational Study
Author(s) -
Gardner Frances,
Ward Sarah,
Burton Jennifer,
Wilson Charlotte
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9507.00238
Subject(s) - observational study , psychology , developmental psychology , child development , observational learning , longitudinal study , observational methods in psychology , early childhood , pedagogy , medicine , experiential learning , pathology
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 .