Themes and emotion in the therapeutic pretend play of maltreated and non-maltreated toddlers & preschoolers

Objective . To examine the type, frequency, and change over time of emotions expressed in therapeutic pair-play, and to illustrate differences in the emotions and play themes of maltreated and non-maltreated pre-school children. Method . This research is described in two papers. For clarity, a standardized description of the sample and measures is used for both papers. Videotaped pretend play episodes were coded for incidences of negative, positive, and neutral emotion for 60 children (32 maltreated, 28 non-maltreated) in two low-SES urban pre-schools. Results were analyzed using growth modeling and multi-level regression. The trajectory of change over time in expression and use of positive, negative, and neutral emotions was examined using the frequency with which children introduced emotion into their pretend play. In paper 2, negative, positive, and neutral themes were added as predictors of emotion, controlling for age, maltreatment status, frequency and severity of maltreatment, and time in pair-play therapy. Principal components analysis determined groupings of emotions and themes in the play of non-maltreated and maltreated children. Findings . The maltreated children in this sample demonstrated lower initial levels of overall emotion, negative expressiveness, and anger in play, and lower rates of increase in anger over time than non-maltreated peers. Many children in the sample frequently expressed fear, anger, and sadness in the same play episode, regardless of maltreatment status. This may indicate that the developmental process of learning to differentiate negative emotions is being "practiced" in the play context. Generally, negative themes predicted negative emotions, and there was a strong interest in negative themes in the play of most children, regardless of maltreatment status. However, specific themes predicted different emotions for maltreated and non-maltreated children. Maltreated children differed from non-maltreated peers in their emotional response to the themes Control (predicted positive emotion), Cooperation (predicted negative emotion), Personal Injury/Hurt , and Aggression (both predicted neutral emotion). These findings are discussed in the context of the maltreatment literature, the pair-play context, and potential connections to attachment strategies. Overall findings support the theory of alternate developmental pathways in emotional expression in maltreated children, especially with regard to the processing and expression of negative emotion.