Positive Play

This chapter's first goal is to present the concept of Positive Play as an expression of play focused on social, psychological, and physical well-being and human potential. It presents some of its foundations in the form of eight maxims that emerged from an analysis on various games developed in the industry and in research settings. Afterwards, it demonstrates of how Positive Play can be integrated in different contexts of action, from diagnosis and intervention to contexts focused on prevention and promotion of awareness and knowledge in the scope of mental health, regarding treatment for Anorexia Nervosa, through a series of in-progress case studies in the form of game prototypes.

Peer-Mediated Play Interventions

Play provides an excellent opportunity for young children to practice appropriate social behaviors and develop friendships. This chapter discusses examples of interventions that directly teach peers how to interact appropriately in play situations. Students can be utilized as powerful intervention agents in prompting, initiating, and reinforcing social play. Recommendations for implementing peer-mediated play interventions are included. This chapter also includes considerations of diversity and equity in the use of students to promote positive play in their peers.

Positive play and its relationship with gambling harms and benefits

BackgroundEngagement in responsible or ‘positive play’ strategies is known to be negatively associated with problem gambling, as indexed by measures such as the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Less is known about whether positive play is associated with reduced harm or a greater ability to enjoy the recreational benefits of gambling.AimsThis study investigated the relationship between positive play and gambling harm after controlling for PGSI scores and whether positive play moderated the relationship between PGSI scores and harm. It also examined whether positive play was related to perceived benefits associated with gambling.MethodsThe study utilised an online panel sample of 554 respondents who completed a survey that included the PGSI, measures of gambling harm drawn from Browne et al. (2016), and the newly developed Positive Play Scale (Wood et al., 2019). The study involved predominantly monthly gamblers with higher levels of gambling risk: 23% problem gamblers; 36% moderate risk; and 21% low risk gamblers.ResultsThe results indicated that positive play was negatively associated with reduced gambling harm. The behavioural Positive Play subscales relating to pre-commitment and honesty and control explained additional variation in harm after controlling for PGSI scores. Higher levels of positive play also moderated and reduced the relationship between the PGSI and gambling harm. Perceived benefits were, unexpectedly, found to be higher in problem gamblers and negatively related to positive play.ConclusionBehavioural measures of positive play appear to be useful moderating factors in understanding the relationship between problem gambling and harm. Higher-risk gamblers appear to experience both greater costs as well as benefits from gambling, which likely reflects a stronger personal need to engage in the activity.

Do Self-Regulation Skills of Preschoolers Mediate the Relation Between Parenting Behaviors and Peer Play Skills?

The aim of this research is to examine the relations between parenting behaviors of mothers, self-regulation skills and peer play skills of preschool children between 60-72 months old focusing in particular the mediation role of the self-regulation skills in relation between parenting behaviors and peer play skills. The sample of the research is selected from the central districts of a city in middle western Turkey, by random sampling method. Sample of the study consist of 365 children, their mothers and teachers. The results indicate that there is a positive relation between positive parenting and positive play skills and a similar association between negative models. Although the self-regulation skills are positively associated with positive peer play, no significant relation is found between self-regulation and negative peer play behaviors. Additionally, no indirect effect of parenting behaviors on peer play skills through self-regulation skills was observed. Implications of the findings are discussed in the light of the related literature.