SynthesisFrontiers in psychology2025
Non-therapeutic play to overcome negative emotional symptoms and improve emotional intelligence in children aged 3-7: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Clinical effectiveness of diaphragmatic breathing for dental anxiety in 7- to 13-year-old children.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2026Trial
- Article
- Addressing Emotional and Behavioral Symptoms in Young Children: The Potential of Non-Therapeutic Play and Art.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Play therapy is an effective approach to reduce emotional symptoms, stress and develop emotional sphere in early childhood. But the organization of therapy requires long-term specialized training and a significant number of sessions, making it inaccessible in public institutions. This systematic review aims to analyze the potential and mechanisms of play outside of the therapeutic setting for overcoming emotional symptoms, develop emotional regulation and resilience in preschool-aged children. Using the PRISMA method, we selected 33 articles for qualitative analysis from the 9,639 published articles over the past 5 years found through PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. The effectiveness of pretend play, play with rules, digital play, and outdoor play for addressing emotional symptoms and improving mental health was revealed. It was shown that play outside of the therapeutic setting is widely used to improve emotional intelligence and its components, decrease anxiety, aggression, and fear. In accordance with the cultural-historical approach, seven generalized blocks of play mechanisms were identified to enhance children's mental well-being and promote development. Pretend play was found to have the greatest corrective and developmental potential, due to the diverse mechanisms involved. The findings of this review may be used to plan future research and improve educational practice in public kindergartens.
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Registered trials
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