Pretend-Play as a Protective Factor for Executive Function and School Readiness Outcomes in Head Start

• In Event: 2-100 - Mechanisms to Enhance Executive Functions and Stress Physiology in Head Start Populations

Integrative Statement

Executive functions (EFs) lie at the root of many early childhood developmental outcomes, especially among children from low-income families (e.g., Blair & Razza, 2007; Welsh et al., 2010). Although many preschool curricula have been developed to scaffold EFs in at-risk preschoolers, these curricula are often very costly and require extensive training to implement (Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2013). In order to improve upon the feasibility and sustainability of these programs, we must identify more cost-effective, natural environmental experiences that are implicated in normative development.

To that end, studies suggest that children incur both socio-emotional and cognitive benefits through pretend-play and imagination (e.g., Black, 1992; Carlson et al., 2014; Thibodeau et al., 2016). However, little extant research has examined the influence of pretend-play among at-risk children. Engaging in pretend-play, which typically involves cooperation, shared affect, and support among peers and adults, may provide a positive context to scaffold development. Analogous to the buffering effects of parental warmth and sensitivity (e.g., Ursache et al., 2013), EF outcomes might depend on the extent to which children engage in enriching pretend behaviors and cognitions.

In the current study, we addressed three research questions outlined below. We were particularly interested in children who had poor emotion regulation (ER) skills, as poor ER has been linked to negative EF outcomes in previous research (e.g., Ursache et al., 2013).
(1) Does a propensity towards pretend-play/imagination serve as a protective factor to minimize negative outcomes in EFs among Head Start children with poor ER skills?
(2) Moving beyond self-report design, does a propensity towards pretend-play/imagination also influence the relationship between a child's physiological reactivity to stress (a biological foundation for ER) and EF outcomes?
(3) Does the influence of pretend-play/imagination extend beyond preschool to influence children's school readiness outcomes in kindergarten.

Results from 323 children across 14 Head Start programs in the Southern United States revealed that fantastical-imagination moderated the relationship between children's ER and EF in preschool, F(6, 239)=39.86, p<.00, R2=.50. Only the slope for low levels of ER was significant (blow=-.16, SEb-low=.07, p=.03), indicating that among children with poor ER skills, those who engaged in more fantastical imagination demonstrated better EF (Figure 1). Pretend-play also moderated the relationship between physiological reactivity and EF in preschool, F(6, 36)=2.26, p=.06, R2=.27. As before, only the slope for low levels of physiological reactivity was significant (blow=-.66, SEb-low=.26, p=.02), suggesting that among children with low reactivity, those who had a higher propensity towards pretense demonstrated better EF (Figure 2). Finally, longitudinal analyses indicated that a propensity towards pretend-play/imagination also impacted school readiness outcomes in kindergarten.

Thus, a propensity towards fantastical pretend-play/imagination appears to serve as a protective factor to enhance EF outcomes, both proximally and distally, among Head Start children with poor ER and low physiological reactivity. Because fantastical pretend-play is easily implemented into existing classroom curricula at little to no cost, these findings allude to how pretend-play can be used as an additional, cost-effective method to facilitate EF development and school readiness among low-income preschoolers.

Author

• Ansley Gilpin, University of Alabama
  Presenting Author