Pretend play is positively related to social competence in children aged 3–8, with a small overall effect size¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q3 · i0 negligible
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i0 Across 34 studies and 188 associations, higher levels of pretend play generally go together with higher social competence (g = 0.166). → Smits-van der Nat 2024

Evidence¶

Smits-van der Nat 2024¶

Smits-van der Nat, M., van der Wilt, F., Meeter, M., & van der Veen, C. (2024). The Value of Pretend Play for Social Competence in Early Childhood: A Meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09884-z

q3 · i0 · quant-synthesis · r2

Meta-regression of 188 associations from 34 studies (overall N = 2952) using random-effects models in JASP, with age centered as covariate. The article reports "higher levels of pretend play generally go together with higher social competence" with g = 0.166, 95% CI [0.042, 0.290].

"The significant intercept indicates that higher levels of pretend play generally go together with higher social competence (g = 0.166, 95% CI [0.042, 0.290], p < 0.01, kstudies = 34, kES = 188)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Social Awareness and Relationship Skills — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Children's age negatively moderates the pretend play–social competence relation, which weakens as children get older — related
• Studies measuring the amount of pretend play yield lower correlations with social competence than studies measuring the quality of pretend play — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The pretend play–social competence relation does not differ significantly across types of social competence measures or between intervention and non-intervention studies — related
• Studies measuring solitary pretend play amount yield lower correlations with social competence than studies measuring social pretend play amount — related