Metaferia Biruk K, Takacs Zsofia K, Futo Judit
Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Institute of Education, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
Front Psychol. 2020 Apr 17;11:624. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00624. eCollection 2020.
Although research has highlighted the importance of home experience and especially of play in early brain development, the value of this factor for executive function (EF) development has not received the attention it deserves. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the link between parental play beliefs and preschoolers' play frequency at home on the one hand and their EF skills on the other. Additionally, other types of home activities were also assessed. A total of 102 preschoolers (45 girls; mean age = 62.08 months; = 7.66 months; range, 50-74 months) with their parents (mean age = 35.21 years; = 6.96 years) representing low to middle socioeconomic status (SES) families in Ethiopia participated in the study. Results revealed that children's home activities (frequency of breakfast at home, spending mealtime together with family, participation in peer play, participation in pretend play, and participation in arts and crafts) and parental play support were significantly positively correlated with their performance on EF tasks. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for age and SES showed that parental play support and frequency of breakfast at home were medium-sized predictors (β = 0.36, < 0.001 and β = 0.31, = 0.001, respectively) explaining a significant level of variance in inhibitory control, while participation in arts and crafts at home was a significant predictor (β = 0.22, = 0.03) of children's performance on a visual-spatial working memory (VSWM) task. In conclusion, parental play support and preschoolers' home activities are important factors linked with EF development in early childhood.
尽管研究已经强调了家庭体验尤其是玩耍在早期大脑发育中的重要性，但这一因素对执行功能（EF）发展的价值尚未得到应有的关注。本研究的目的是一方面调查父母的玩耍观念与学龄前儿童在家的玩耍频率之间的联系，另一方面调查它们与儿童执行功能技能之间的联系。此外，还评估了其他类型的家庭活动。共有102名学龄前儿童（45名女孩；平均年龄=62.08个月；标准差=7.66个月；范围50 - 74个月）及其父母（平均年龄=35.21岁；标准差=6.96岁）参与了这项研究，这些家庭代表了埃塞俄比亚社会经济地位低至中等（SES）的家庭。结果显示，儿童的家庭活动（在家吃早餐的频率、与家人一起用餐时间、参与同伴玩耍、参与假装游戏以及参与艺术和手工艺活动）和父母的玩耍支持与他们在执行功能任务上的表现显著正相关。控制年龄和社会经济地位的分层回归分析表明，父母的玩耍支持和在家吃早餐的频率是中等规模的预测因素（分别为β = 0.36，p < 0.001和β = 0.31，p = 0.001），解释了抑制控制方面显著水平的方差，而在家参与艺术和手工艺活动是儿童在视觉空间工作记忆（VSWM）任务表现的显著预测因素（β = 0.22, p = 0.03）。总之，父母的玩耍支持和学龄前儿童的家庭活动是与幼儿执行功能发展相关的重要因素。
