Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Research has consistently demonstrated relationships between pretend play and various aspects of children's adaptive functioning.However, there is little longitudinal research supporting the predictive power of play.The aim of the present study was to investigate whether early pretend play predicted resiliency and components of adaptive functioning over a four-year period.Participants included thirty-one girls in the fourth through eighth grades.Results showed that early play predicted children's later divergent thinking abilities and positive affect.Pretend play also predicted mathematics achievement over a four-year period.Examination of divergent thinking over the four-year period supported its stability over time.Play did not predict later resiliency or coping.Concurrently, greater divergent thinking ability was related to mathematics achievement.The present study provides important longitudinal evidence for the predictive power of pretend play in children's development and adaptive functioning.
Author: Claire E. Wallace
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2806563859