van de Weitgraven Rianne L, Jansen Brenda R J, Dekkers Tycho J, Fink Elian
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry & Psychosocial Care, Amsterdam UMC, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, The Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 2;15(1):23537. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-09536-4.
Children's playfulness is associated with increased social skills and positively predicts children's later prosocial skills. Social skills become increasingly important as children enter formal schooling. To understand the role of playfulness in children's social-emotional development during the first years of school, this three time-point longitudinal study aimed to explore the reciprocal longitudinal associations between children's self-reported playfulness, teacher-reported social maturity, and peer-reported social preference over time. The sample consisted of 172 children (99 boys [58%], majority White [79.5%]) from England who were first seen at age 5 (M = 63 months, SD = 3.86) and then at ages 6 (M = 73 months, SD = 4.53) and 7 (M = 81 months, SD = 4.69). Findings showed robust longitudinal stability in children's self-reported playfulness across the three time-points. Children's own perceptions of their playfulness at age 7 were predicted by teacher's views of their social maturity and peer-ratings of social preference. As playfulness both drives behaviour and reflects how others judge a child's behaviour, it is important to consider playfulness when trying to protect and promote children's social-emotional competencies. Given the rise in play-based pedagogies, further research is needed to explore the impact of context on these findings.
儿童的活泼好动与社交技能的提高相关联，并能积极预测儿童日后的亲社会技能。随着儿童进入正规学校教育，社交技能变得越来越重要。为了了解在入学后的头几年里活泼好动在儿童社会情感发展中的作用，这项三时间点的纵向研究旨在探讨儿童自我报告的活泼好动、教师报告的社会成熟度和同伴报告的社会偏好之间随着时间推移的相互纵向关联。样本包括来自英国的172名儿童（99名男孩[58%]，大多数为白人[79.5%]），他们在5岁时（M = 63个月，SD = 3.86）首次接受观察，然后在6岁时（M = 73个月，SD = 4.53）和7岁时（M = 81个月，SD = 4.69）再次接受观察。研究结果显示，在这三个时间点上，儿童自我报告的活泼好动具有很强的纵向稳定性。教师对儿童社会成熟度的看法以及同伴对社会偏好的评分可以预测儿童在7岁时对自己活泼程度的认知。由于活泼好动既驱动行为，又反映他人对儿童行为的评判，因此在试图保护和促进儿童的社会情感能力时，考虑活泼好动这一因素很重要。鉴于以游戏为基础的教学法的兴起，需要进一步研究来探讨环境对这些研究结果的影响。
