Parent‐Child Pretend Play Behaviours and Symptoms of Depression in School‐Referred Children
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19224583 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Catherine Sheehan (0009-0006-3947-2883, Cardiff University Centre for Human Developmental Science, School of Psychology Cardiff University Cardiff UK), Sania Hashmi (0000-0002-2022-5851, Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience King's College London London UK), Katherine H Shelton (0000-0002-1311-5291, Cardiff University Centre for Human Developmental Science, School of Psychology Cardiff University Cardiff UK), Amy L Paine (0000-0002-9025-3719, Cardiff University Centre for Human Developmental Science, School of Psychology Cardiff University Cardiff UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1467-9507 • E-ISSN: 0961-205X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/sode.70063 |
| OpenAlex | W7160061946 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 53 |
Pretend play is important for children's social and emotional development yet significant gaps in knowledge remain. Parent‐child pretend play of school‐aged children is largely overlooked, despite the key role parents play for children of this age. Furthermore, children's experiences of mental health difficulties, such as symptoms of depression, are rarely considered in relation to pretend play. More research is required to identify specific pretend play behaviours that are associated with mental health in children. We conducted observational coding of enacting, negotiating, and storytelling behaviours in parent‐child pretend play. Our sample included 107 children, school‐referred for emotional, cognitive, and/or behavioural difficulties ( M = 78.30 months, SD = 11.80; range 52–98 months; 70.1% male, 29.9% female) and their parents. We examined the correlates of children's pretend play behaviours and investigated associations with children's symptoms of depression. We found that parent‐child pretend play behaviours were correlated with each other and that child depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with total pretence. However, when controlling for child gender, age, receptive language, and parent propensity to engage in negotiating behaviours, a hierarchical regression showed that children's symptoms of depression predicted less engagement in children's negotiating behaviours. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of taking nuanced approaches to investigating pretend play and its correlates, and how future work should consider that some pretend play behaviours may present differently according to child mental health, even at subclinical levels
Depressive symptoms · Early childhood · Mental health · Multilevel model · Negotiation · Observational methods in psychology · Observational study · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Child Development and Digital Technology · Child Therapy and Development
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The social context of school playground games
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Disentangling pretend play measurement
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This is a mailbox, right?”
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Social Relationships and Health
| Highly cited | No |
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