A comparison of curricula: Examining the efficacy of a school-based musical theater intervention.

Students qualifying for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act may experience challenges meeting the socioemotional demands of the school environment, creating a need for targeted interventions that can be delivered within school settings. The current study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the efficacy of a 4-week school-based musical theater intervention delivered to 121 elementary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Quantitative analyses of teacher-reported changes in student engagement pre- and post-intervention were conducted to compare student gains made across two intervention curricula, followed by qualitative content analyses of teachers' responses to open-ended survey questions. Results indicated an overall benefit of the musical theater intervention, with increases found in composite scores on the teacher-report Student Engagement Survey measure after completion of both intervention curricula; however, gains in individual survey item scores differed by curricula. Additionally, qualitative analyses provided positive insight into several aspects of the intervention.

A preliminary investigation of a school-based musical theater intervention program for children with intellectual disabilities.

The presence of an intellectual disability may cause a child to have significant deficits in social skills and emotion regulation abilities across development. A vital next step is to find interventions that can be delivered in the school environment and across disability categories that target socioemotional factors. The current study investigated the feasibility of delivering a school-based musical theater program to students with intellectual disability across a range of school settings. A within-group repeated-measures design was used to analyze pre- and post-video recordings of the intervention program, which were coded for six domains of socioemotional ability across all participants ( n = 47). Results showed that significant gains across all domains were observed. However, these gains related to school- and individual-level student factors, such as grade level, severity of disability, and baseline social skill ability.

Pretend Play: Antecedent of Adult Creativity.

This article reviews the theoretical and empirical literature in the area of pretend play as a predictor of adult creativity. There is strong evidence that processes expressed in pretend play are associated with measures of creativity, especially with divergent thinking. There is some evidence from longitudinal studies that this association is stable over time. Converging evidence suggests that cognitive and affective processes in pretend play are involved in adult creative production. However, there is a lack of consensus in the field as to whether engaging in pretend play actually facilitates creative thinking. In addition, many other variables (opportunity, tolerance for failure, motivation, work ethic, etc.) determine whether children with creative potential are actually creative in adulthood. In spite of the many methodological challenges in conducting research in the play area, it is important to continue investigating specific processes expressed in play and their developmental trajectories. Large samples in multisite studies would be ideal in investigating the ability of specific play processes to predict these creative processes and creative productivity in adulthood.

Assessment of pretend play in preschool-aged children: validation and factor analysis of the affect in play scale-preschool version.

The Affect in Play Scale-Preschool (APS-P) and Affect in Play Scale-Preschool-Brief Rating (APS-P-BR) versions assess cognitive and affective play processes during a 5-min standardized play task. In this study, construct validity, external validity, and factor analyses for each scale were examined in 107 preschoolers. Reliability and validity were supported. Unlike results found with school-aged samples, positive affect loaded with the cognitive variables on factor analyses of the APS-P and APS-P-BR, suggesting that negative and undefined affect might represent a separate factor in preschool-aged children. Developmental significance and implications for use of the 2 scoring versions are discussed.

Efficacy of a Remote Play-Based Intervention for Children With Prader-Willi Syndrome.

The current study examines the efficacy of an 8-week pretend play intervention targeting social-cognitive abilities in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), ages 6-9. PWS is a rare disorder associated with various social, emotional, and cognitive challenges linked to pretend play impairments, and for which interventions are sparse. Nineteen children were quasi-randomized to receive the intervention or be part of a waitlist control group. Participants who received the intervention (n = 10) demonstrated significant improvements in various components of pretend play, most notably in organization of play, which may generalize to broader social-cognitive gains. These findings provide evidence of the intervention's efficacy in enhancing pretend play skills and related social-cognitive abilities during this critical period of development for children with PWS.

Intervention Response by Genetic Subtype: PRETEND-Preschool Program for Children with Prader-Willi Syndrome via Remote Parent Training.

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder associated with social cognitive challenges, and pretend play has been demonstrated as a tool to achieve developmental goals. Following previous report on feasibility and acceptability of a remote, play-based parent-training program (Zyga, Russ, & Dimitropoulos, 2018), we now report on preliminary efficacy of this program to enhance pretend play skills and social cognitive skills in preschoolers with PWS. Results across two studies demonstrated efficacy when live-coaching play sessions incorporated children into the intervention. Increases in play skills were observed for children with the mUPD subtype of PWS who underwent intervention, compared with children with mUPD who were waitlisted. Children with DEL subtype were less likely to respond to intervention. Implications for results are discussed.

Believing in Make-Believe: Efficacy of a Pretend Play Intervention for School-Aged Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by socio-emotional deficits, and difficulties with pretend play skills. Play skills are related to processes of adaptive functioning and emotion understanding. The present pilot study implemented an in-person pretend play intervention to school-aged children (ages 6 to 9 years, intervention group = 18, control group = 7) diagnosed with high-functioning ASD (HF-ASD), to increase children's cognitive and affective play skills, and emotional understanding abilities. The intervention consisted of 5 weekly sessions, 15-20 minutes each. The intervention group significantly increased in imagination and cognitive play skills, which generalized to increased skills in emotional understanding. Findings demonstrate the positive impact of a short, easily facilitated, accessible play intervention for school-aged children with HF-ASD.

Show me what happens next: Preliminary efficacy of a remote play-based intervention for children with Prader-Willi syndrome.

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is characterized by decreased social and emotional functioning. Due to the low base-rate of children with PWS, developing behavioral interventions for individuals with PWS is faced with the challenge of enrolling enough local participants for adequate study of behavioral intervention efficacy. However, these types of studies are greatly needed in PWS and telehealth methodology may be useful in addressing this challenge. This article is a follow-up to a previous feasibility study (Dimitropoulos et al., 2017) and reports on the preliminary efficacy of a telehealth intervention delivered to 15 children, ages 6-12, with PWS. Overall, children demonstrated significantly improved cognitive and affective processes in pretend play and general cognitive flexibility following the 6-week remote intervention. These findings are limited by the lack of control group and small sample size which should be considered when interpreting results. Overall, these preliminary findings point to the potential role pretend play can serve as a means of enacting cognitive and behavioral change via telehealth.

Early Social Cognitive Ability in Preschoolers with Prader-Willi Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with challenges in social cognitive ability, Research comparing PWS to ASD is important given the implication of 15q11-q13 region in the biology of autism. However, recent findings question the accuracy of relying solely on parent report in behavioral characterization. Thus, this study examined social cognition in an observable pretend play task and by parent report in 50 preschool children (ages 3-5) with PWS, by subtype, compared to ASD. Behaviorally, the paternal deletion subtype expressed overall higher functioning, whereas the maternal uniparental disomy subtype performed more similarly to the ASD group. Results are the first to show deficits in social cognitive ability early in development. The severity and differences in deficits between PWS subtypes are important in informing early intervention efforts.

Development and validation of the Affect in Play Scale-brief rating version (APS-BR).

The Affect in Play Scale (APS; Russ, 1987, 2004) is one of few reliable, standardized measures of pretend play, yet the fact that it requires videotaping and extensive training to score compromises its clinical utility. In this study, we developed and validated a brief rating version (APS-BR) that does not require videotaping. Construct validity was established by comparing scores from the original APS and the APS-BR using an existing data set of videotaped play (n = 46). We examined associations between scores on the APS-BR and theoretically relevant measures of divergent thinking and emotional memories. Scores on the APS-BR related strongly to those on the APS, and the pattern of correlations for each scale and relevant criterion measures was similar in strength and direction, supporting the APS-BR as an alternate form of the APS. In addition, we completed a pilot study to examine the efficacy of using the APS-BR in its intended in vivo format (n = 28). Results from both studies suggest that the APS-BR is a promising brief measure of children's pretend play that can be substituted for the APS in clinical and research settings.

The PRETEND Program: Evaluating the Feasibility of a Remote Parent-Training Intervention for Children With Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Research has shown that children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) have social-cognitive challenges and decreased quality parent-child interactions. However, given the low prevalence rate, developing interventions for children with PWS is faced with the significant challenge of enrolling enough participants for local studies. To better understand the feasibility and acceptability of telehealth, the current study delivered a 6-week remote parent training intervention to 15 primary caregivers of a child with PWS (ages 3-6). Behavioral Intervention Rating Scale results indicate good acceptability (5.64/6.00) and satisfaction (4.75/5.00) with the intervention. These results are one of the first to support the use of telehealth in conducting parent training in rare disorders, such as PWS.

Pretend play as a resource for children: implications for pediatricians and health professionals.

Pretend play relates to many areas of adaptive functioning in child development including creativity, coping, and emotion regulation. Though pretend play interventions have been employed in medical settings for decades, there are few empirical studies of such interventions in the literature. A review of literature involving pretend play in medical settings indicates that pretend play interventions are effective in inpatient and outpatient settings for preventing and reducing anxiety and distress. Pretend play also has effects on pain, externalizing behavior, and adaptation to chronic illness. Such effects have been demonstrated in the short term; however they have not been shown to be stable in the long term, indicating that intermittent refresher sessions may be necessary. The sparse empirical literature regarding pretend play in medical settings spans a large number of journals and years, and conclusions are limited by methodological issues including measurement, treatment fidelity, research design, statistical procedures, and potential confounding variables. Despite these limitations, existing evidence suggests that play is a helpful intervention and that future research that addresses these limitations is warranted.

Psychometric properties of the Dominic interactive assessment: a computerized self-report for children.

The reliability and validity of the Dominic Interactive (DI) assessment were evaluated. The DI is a computerized self-report measure for children, which assesses symptom presence for seven DSM-IV diagnoses. The participants were 322 children (169 cocaine exposed, 153 non-cocaine exposed) who were recruited at birth for a prospective longitudinal study. At 6 years of age, measures of self-report, parent report, and observational data were collected. Moderate to excellent internal consistencies on the DI were found for the total sample as well as for subsamples based on cocaine status and gender. Concurrent validity correlations between DI scales and the Child Behavior Checklist, Affect in Play Scale, a modified Conners's Teachers Rating Scale, and the Parenting Stress Index were examined. Significant relationships among scales were more apt to be among comparisons that assessed externalizing behaviors. Overall, low correlations were obtained, which are comparable to other studies that evaluate agreement between child and parent report of behaviors.

Children's internal representations, empathy, and fantasy play: a validity study of the SCORS-Q.

The authors investigated relationships among internal representations, empathy, and affective and cognitive processes in fantasy play to test the validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale Q-Sort (SCORS-Q; D. Westen, 1995) with children. Eighty-six 8-10-year-olds were administered 8 Thematic Apperception Test cards, a standardized play task, and a self-report empathy measure. Teachers rated children's empathy and helpfulness. As predicted, internal representations were related to empathy, helpfulness, and quality of fantasy play. Developmental differences on the SCORS-Q were consistent with object relations theory and with results from the original SCORS. The findings support the value of internal representations as a means of understanding children's interpersonal functioning and contribute to the validity of the SCORS-Q for use with children.