Preschoolers' Free Play--Connections with Emotional and Social Functioning.

IntroductionPlay refers to an activity that is predominantly pleasurable. For many children, there is no other meaning to it than just enjoying yourself, alone or in the company of others. In other words, the motivation for play is purely intrinsic, and implies active engagement. It provides children with the opportunity for escaping reality, setting new rules and exploring new avenues, extending their world and possibilities without the serious consequences of taking risks. This perceived sense of freedom and safety encourages children to discover, practice and master their competencies without the fear of failure, and therefore contributes to their adaptive functioning and well-being (e.g., Lester & Russell, 2010; Pellegrini, 2009). The premise that play promotes healthy child development is well established among professionals and academics (e.g., Burdette & Whitaker, 2005; Ginsburg, 2007). In particular, the American Academy of Pediatrics (2007) advocates that parents should prioritize child-directed and non-structured free play (from here on referred to as free play), over adult-driven play. Apparently, in adult-driven play children tend to conform to adults' norms, which may restrain them from exploring the effectiveness and adjustment of their behaviors. Conversely, when it is the child who chooses when, how and with whom to play, directing the playtime without external constraints, there are more opportunities to follow his/her own interests, and to practice novel skills and domains, which often implies making decisions under risks and uncertainty (e.g., Gray, 2011; Hurwitz, 2003). Despite its critical role in child development, there has been a reduction of time and opportunities for free play. Over the past half century, children's free time has declined severely in many countries in Europe and the developed countries. In a recent international survey, Play Report (2010), almost three quarters of the surveyed parents agreed that they do not have enough time to play with their children, with Portuguese parents reporting the highest levels of agreement, along with Chinese. From 1981 to 1997 children lost 25% of time for free play (Hofferth, 2009). In 2008, 25% of Los Angeles' kindergarten teachers reported that their children had no time available for free play (Miller & Almon, 2009). One of the reasons for this serious decrease in free play is the current trend of institutionalizing children's free time with early stimulation and structured enrichment activities, which are believed to guarantee academic success in children. On the other hand, this decrease coincides with the rise of parents' safety concerns, particularly in those neighborhoods where road traffic, strangers or violence demand adults' constant supervision of children's playtime (Ginsburg, 2007). Even when children do have unscheduled time and safe places to play, they often engage in screen activities than in free play (Schwarzmueller & Rinaldo, 2013). The decline of play time, has been accompanied by a decline in young people's mental health, and these decreases are believed to be connected (Gray, 2011). Indeed, persistent absence of free play is believed to negatively affect children's development (Pellis & Pellis, 2006). However, to date, only scarce empirical data has examined this relationship. Much of the research comes from studies with rats, showing that depriving an animal from play brings harmful effects in terms of emotional regulation deficits, failures in social interactions and externalizing behavior (Hol, Van den Berg, Van Ree, & Spruijt, 1999; Pellis & Pellis, 2006; Pellis & Pellis, 2007; Spinka, Newberry, & Bekoff, 2001; Van den Berg et al., 1999). Given the obvious ethical issues of replicating these studies with children, there is a lack of research on the impact of a deficit in free playtime on children's development (Lester & Russell, 2010). In a pilot study with young people who had committed homicide, Brown (1998) revealed that 90% of them reported play deprivation and/or major play abnormalities in their childhood, compared to 10% of the non-homicidal comparison group. …