Differences in how mothers and fathers support children playfulness

Conceptual and methodological differences resulted in unclear evidence of whether parents do differ in how they engaged in joint play with their children. The purpose of the study was to examine whether mothers and fathers differed in how they support their child's playfulness through joint play experience. One-hundred thirty-two English-speaking parent-child dyad with predominately married Caucasian parents of typically developing children aged 2 to 5 years participated in the study. Fifteen minutes of joint play video-recorded observations at home were analyzed using Parent's/Caregiver Support of Children's Playfulness measuring quality and frequency of parental supportive behaviours and the Test of Playfulness measuring child's playfulness. Results indicated mothers displayed a significantly higher quality of support than fathers did. However, the frequency of parental supportive behaviour did not significantly differ between mothers and fathers, and no significant differences were found in children's playfulness.