Observational studyBMC psychology2021
Maternal anxiety and depression and their associations with mother-child pretend play: a longitudinal observational study.
Observational study in BMC psychology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal mood entropy and children's hippocampal development: Enduring versus transient effects.Development and psychopathology · 2026Article
- Toddlers' symbolic play in dyadic mother-child and triadic mother-child-older-sibling interactions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The impact of parental socioeconomic characteristics and engagement on children's early academic abilities: the role of racial and economic disparities.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Improved mental health for women receiving infant mental health home visiting: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- The significance of parental mentalizing for four-year-old children's solitary pretend play.PloS one · 2024Article
- Playful activities mitigate relations between parental mental health difficulties and child verbal outcomes.Child developmentArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundParental anxiety and depression have been associated with changes to parent-child interactions. Although play constitutes an important part of parent-child interactions and affords critical developmental opportunities, little is known regarding how parental anxiety and depression are related to parent-child play. This is an important knowledge gap because parents play a crucial role in children's early play experience. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether levels of maternal anxiety and depression respectively predicted frequencies of pretend play in both mothers and their children, and whether mothers' engagement in pretend play predicted child behaviour problems two years later.
methodsPretend play in 60 mother-toddler dyads (M
resultsHigher maternal anxiety predicted less pretend play in mothers and children (β = - .23, BCa 95% CI: [- .018, - .001]) and β = - .22, BCa 95% CI [- .014, - .001]). Higher maternal depression predicted less child pretend play (β = - .20, BCa 95% CI [- .012, - .001]). There was evidence (albeit weak) that more mother pretend play at baseline predicted fewer child behaviour problems two years later (β = - .18, BCa 95% CI [- 62.38, 11.69]), when baseline child behaviour problems and maternal anxiety were controlled for.
conclusionsMaternal anxiety and depression are associated with less pretend play during mother-child interaction. Mother's pretend play might help reduce child behavioural problems risks, suggesting that play might be one mechanism by which maternal mental health influences children's development.
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