The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years

IntroductionDevelopmental research has traditionally focused on parenting behaviors such as nurturance and care, due to a focus on mothers’ behaviors. Other parenting dimensions such as parental playfulness (i.e., use of creativity, imagination, and humor during parent–child interactions) have compa...

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Main Authors: Jean-François Bureau, Khachadour Bandk, Audrey-Ann Deneault, Jessica Turgeon, Harshita Seal, Patricia Brosseau-Liard
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1274160/full
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author Jean-François Bureau
Khachadour Bandk
Audrey-Ann Deneault
Jessica Turgeon
Harshita Seal
Patricia Brosseau-Liard
author_facet Jean-François Bureau
Khachadour Bandk
Audrey-Ann Deneault
Jessica Turgeon
Harshita Seal
Patricia Brosseau-Liard
author_sort Jean-François Bureau
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionDevelopmental research has traditionally focused on parenting behaviors such as nurturance and care, due to a focus on mothers’ behaviors. Other parenting dimensions such as parental playfulness (i.e., use of creativity, imagination, and humor during parent–child interactions) have comparatively received little attention. Although some measures tap into parents’ and children’s playfulness, these measures are limited. Indeed, they do not assess multiple domains of playfulness (i.e., both parents’ and the child’s playfulness) or focus on one specific setting such as children’s play with peers. Additionally, existing measures do not consider parents’ reactions to their partners’ playfulness. To address this gap, we created the Playful Parenting Style Questionnaire (PPSQ), which assesses three domains of playfulness: (a) parental domain, (b) child domain, and (c) partner domain. The current study is part of a validation effort of the PPSQ using a quantitative design. We aimed to explore the structure of the PPSQ by conducting an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for each domain of playfulness; and assess the construct validity of the PPSQ factors by examining the association between factors and existing measures of playful parenting, child playfulness, and co-parenting.MethodThe sample includes 347 parents (294 mothers and 53 fathers) of preschool/school-age children (M = 5.10 years; 182 girls, 127 boys). Parents were mostly White (76%) and from a low socioeconomic risk background. Parents completed a series of online questionnaires including the PPSQ, 3 existing measures of parent playfulness (Parental Playfulness Questionnaire; Adult Playfulness Scale; Challenging Parenting Behavior Scale), 2 existing measures of child playfulness (Child Behavior Inventory; Children’s Playfulness Scale), a coparenting instrument (Co-parenting Relationship Scale), and sociodemographic information.ResultsThe EFA revealed 4 factors for parental playfulness, 1 factor for child playfulness, and 3 factors for partner’s playfulness. The construct validity analyses identified multiple associations indicating convergence with existing measures for the parent and partners domain but not the child factor.DiscussionThis study allowed for a better understanding of the playful dynamics that occur within a family.
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spelling doaj.art-a26918cda0414ba1ae1650a3c8ae4c7f2023-12-04T04:41:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-12-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12741601274160The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school yearsJean-François Bureau0Khachadour Bandk1Audrey-Ann Deneault2Jessica Turgeon3Harshita Seal4Patricia Brosseau-Liard5School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaDépartement de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, CanadaDépartement de Psychoéducation, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, CanadaSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaIntroductionDevelopmental research has traditionally focused on parenting behaviors such as nurturance and care, due to a focus on mothers’ behaviors. Other parenting dimensions such as parental playfulness (i.e., use of creativity, imagination, and humor during parent–child interactions) have comparatively received little attention. Although some measures tap into parents’ and children’s playfulness, these measures are limited. Indeed, they do not assess multiple domains of playfulness (i.e., both parents’ and the child’s playfulness) or focus on one specific setting such as children’s play with peers. Additionally, existing measures do not consider parents’ reactions to their partners’ playfulness. To address this gap, we created the Playful Parenting Style Questionnaire (PPSQ), which assesses three domains of playfulness: (a) parental domain, (b) child domain, and (c) partner domain. The current study is part of a validation effort of the PPSQ using a quantitative design. We aimed to explore the structure of the PPSQ by conducting an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for each domain of playfulness; and assess the construct validity of the PPSQ factors by examining the association between factors and existing measures of playful parenting, child playfulness, and co-parenting.MethodThe sample includes 347 parents (294 mothers and 53 fathers) of preschool/school-age children (M = 5.10 years; 182 girls, 127 boys). Parents were mostly White (76%) and from a low socioeconomic risk background. Parents completed a series of online questionnaires including the PPSQ, 3 existing measures of parent playfulness (Parental Playfulness Questionnaire; Adult Playfulness Scale; Challenging Parenting Behavior Scale), 2 existing measures of child playfulness (Child Behavior Inventory; Children’s Playfulness Scale), a coparenting instrument (Co-parenting Relationship Scale), and sociodemographic information.ResultsThe EFA revealed 4 factors for parental playfulness, 1 factor for child playfulness, and 3 factors for partner’s playfulness. The construct validity analyses identified multiple associations indicating convergence with existing measures for the parent and partners domain but not the child factor.DiscussionThis study allowed for a better understanding of the playful dynamics that occur within a family.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1274160/fullparental playfulnesschild playfulnessco-parentingself-reportearly childhood
spellingShingle Jean-François Bureau
Khachadour Bandk
Audrey-Ann Deneault
Jessica Turgeon
Harshita Seal
Patricia Brosseau-Liard
The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
Frontiers in Psychology
parental playfulness
child playfulness
co-parenting
self-report
early childhood
title The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
title_full The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
title_fullStr The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
title_full_unstemmed The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
title_short The PPSQ: assessing parental, child, and partner’s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
title_sort ppsq assessing parental child and partner s playfulness in the preschool and early school years
topic parental playfulness
child playfulness
co-parenting
self-report
early childhood
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1274160/full
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