A Long-term Prospective Cross-lagged Study of Gender-typed Play and Mental Transformation in Children

Overview

Journal Child Dev

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2024 Dec 21

PMID 39707728

Authors

Wang Ivy Wong

Sylvia Yun Shi

Gu Li

Pak Ho Ng

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Gender-typed play may contribute to gender disparities in spatial skills, but evidence of this link is limited. Gender-typed play and mental transformation, an important spatial skill, were studied using age-appropriate and comprehensive measures. Chinese children were tested at 5-6 years and at 11-14 years (N = 210), creating a long-term data set considering bidirectional associations. Play and mental transformation showed moderate to large gender differences. Importantly, boy-typical play positively predicted mental transformation, while girl-typical play negatively predicted it. Results were largely consistent across gender and socioeconomic status and when play was coded by spatialness. They suggest that play is an important socialization experience and illuminates the developmental origins of gender disparities in spatial skills.

Citing Articles

A long-term prospective cross-lagged study of gender-typed play and mental transformation in children.

Wong W, Shi S, Li G, Ng P Child Dev. 2024; 96(2):812-829.

PMID: 39707728 PMC: 11868673. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14211.

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