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The power of pretend: unveiling the role of play complexity in self-regulation among polish preschool children.

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Τίτλος: The power of pretend: unveiling the role of play complexity in self-regulation among polish preschool children.
Συγγραφείς: Józefacka NM; Institute of Psychology, University SWPS, Poland. Electronic address: njozefacka@swps.edu.pl., Korucu I; Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, United States., McClelland MM; College of Health, Oregon State University, United States.
Πηγή: Journal of experimental child psychology [J Exp Child Psychol] 2026 Aug; Vol. 268, pp. 106525. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Apr 06.
Τύπος έκδοσης: Journal Article
Γλώσσα: English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού: Publisher: Academic Press Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 2985128R Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1096-0457 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00220965 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Exp Child Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s): Publication: New York, NY : Academic Press
Original Publication: New York.
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): Play and Playthings*/psychology , Self-Control*/psychology , Emotional Regulation*/physiology , Child Behavior*/physiology , Child Behavior*/psychology , Imagination*/physiology , Child Development*/physiology , Social Interaction*, Humans ; Poland ; Female ; Child, Preschool ; Male
Περίληψη: Pretend play is crucial for preschool children's cognitive and social development and has potential links to self-regulation. While prior research suggests associations between pretend play complexity and self-regulation, the relations between specific dimensions of pretend play and specific dimensions of self-regulation remain underexplored. This study examines associations between pretend play dimensions and behavioral and emotional self-regulation, expecting cognitive dimensions (organization, elaboration, imagination) to relate positively to behavioral regulation and the social interaction dimension to emotional regulation. Participants included 93 children (50.5% girls, Mage = 60.77 months, SD = 13.34) in Krakow, Poland. Pretend play was assessed using indicators of complexity and social relationships using observational assessments. Children's behavioral self-regulation and emotion regulation was evaluated through direct assessments. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the organization aspect of pretend play (β = .38, p = .024) and age (β = 0.55, p < .001) were significant predictors of behavioral self-regulation. No significant predictors emerged for emotional self-regulation, and the explained variance was minimal (R2 = .07, p = .352). Structured pretend play may support behavioral self-regulation in preschoolers, while its role in emotional self-regulation remains unclear. Further research should explore additional play characteristics and contextual factors influencing self-regulation.
(Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Contributed Indexing: Keywords: Behavioral self-regulation; Elaboration; Emotional-self-regulation; Imagination; Organization; Pretend play; Self-regulation; Social interaction
Entry Date(s): Date Created: 20260407 Date Completed: 20260714 Latest Revision: 20260714
Update Code: 20260715
DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2026.106525
PMID: 41946298
Βάση Δεδομένων: MEDLINE
Περιγραφή
ISSN:1096-0457
DOI:10.1016/j.jecp.2026.106525