Behaviors Observed

Play Behavior and Nonplay Behavior Categories. In each of the three play situations, nine behavior categories (three play and six nonplay; see Table 2) were coded. These categories were mutually exclusive; an observed behavior could be coded into only one of the categories (see Note).

Coding and Reliability. Table 2 behavior categories were observed and coded from videotape recorded during each of the play situations. Coding took place during the first 31/z minutes of each of the two SolFP sessions, the first 15 minutes of the single IntFP situation, and the first 3 minutes of each of the two PNar-Nt sessions (6 minutes in all), the two PNar-MI-happy sessions (6 minutes in all), and the two PNar-MI-sad sessions (6 minutes in all). Therefore, the maximum duration in seconds that any behavior category could be coded was as follows: SolFP situation, 420 seconds; IntFP situation, 900 seconds; PNar-MIhappy situation, 360 seconds; PNar-MIsad situation, 360 seconds; PNar-Nt situation, 360 seconds.

The occurrence and duration of these categories were observed and continuously coded from videotape by means of a computerized observation system, The Observer (Noldus, 1993). All videotapes were independently coded by three raters who were trained in the use of the coding scheme and blind with respect to each child’s group status.

Interrater reliability was computed using the data coded by the three raters on all subjects. All behavior categories except one could be reliably scored (Cohen’s kappa for pairs of raters ranged from .82 to .99). It was not possible to reliably distinguish ManPl-S from ManPl-C, so these were combined into one category of manipulative play (ManPl), which could be reliably scored (Cohen’s kappa .95).

Play and Nonplay Behavior Scores. For each child, percentage duration scores were calculated for each of the remaining play behavior (ManPl, SymPl) and nonplay behavior (Expl, Hand, Look, Envi, Self, Adul) categories, in each play situation (SOIFP, IntFP, Nt, MI-happy, and PNar-MI-sad). These scores were derived by obtaining the amount of time (in seconds) that a child exhibited each behavior in a given play situation, then dividing by the maximum duration of that situation.

For example, suppose that in the PNar-MI-happy situation, during the first positive mood story three separate episodes of SymPl were coded, lasting 39.6, 23.0, and 51.5 seconds, summing to 114.1 seconds. The same was done for the second positive mood story, with a sum of 135.8 seconds

DEPrEssion anD Play in Early ChilDhooD 37

of SymPl coded. Summing across the two positive mood stories yields 249.9 seconds of SymPl.

The PNar-MI-happy situation lasted 2 x 180 = 360 seconds, so this child exhibited a SymPl percentage duration of 69.4 %. In a similar way, percent-age duration scores were obtained for all behavior categories in all five play situations.

Total Changes. To investigate the amount of coherence in the behavior of depressed and nondepressed young children, we computed for each child in each play situation the number of behavior changes, that is, the number of times the child’s behavior changed from any category of play or nonplay behavior to another. These were summed across play situations to yield a total changes score.

Table 2 Play and Nonplay Behavior Categories

Code Name Activity

Play Behavior ManPl-s simple

manipula-tive play

repeating actions for the sake of pleasure, such as repeatedly lifting up an arm of leg of a doll or repeatedly opening and closing a medical kit.

ManPl-C Combinatorial manipulative play

Combining actions and/or elements of the objects evidently for the sake of play pleasure, such as moving arms and legs of the doll at the same time or opening the medical kit and taking out something without the intention of representing a special action.

symPl symbolic Play Making objects, actions, and/or persons represent other absent objects, actions, and/or persons, for example, pretending that the doll is walking or talking and pretend-ing that one is a doctor.

Nonplay behavior

Expl Exploration looking at, touching, and/or manipulating the play-object or parts of them, evidently in order to find out how it works.

hand handling handling without any specific intention.

look looking looking or staring in a nonexplorative way.

Envi Environment oriented

looking at, touching, or manipulating the environment.

self self-oriented Child is only interested in/or busy with him- or herself, for example, looking at self in a mirror or manipulating own clothes.

adul Experimenter oriented

Child is actively engaging with the oriented experimenter, for example, asking him or her what they are going to play afterwards or how long he or she has to remain in the waiting room.

2.3. Results

Data were analyzed using a design with one between-subjects factor, group (depressed vs. nondepressed children), and three within-subjects factors, play situation (SOIFP, IntFP, PNar), type of play behavior (ManPl, SymPl), and type of nonplay behavior (Expl, Hand, Look, Envi, Self, Adul). ANOVAS and MANOV were executed using a general linear model procedure in SPSS 7.5.2. Table 3 provides descriptive data on each of the children, their percentage duration scores on the two play behavior categories, and total changes. Tables 4 through 7 summarize the means and standard devia-tions of the groups in various analyses and the outcomes of statistical tests in these analyses. With respect to the results that are described below,

Table 3 Percentage of Manipulative Play and Symbolic Play and Number of Behavior Changes

Depressed^d girl 36 18.0 5.3 23.1 3.5 9.5 14.1 92

nondepressed girl 36 0 47.5 1.6 16.2 10.6 62.8 52

Depressed boy 48 7.8 14.6 8.8 37.4 9.4 24.3 84

nondepressed boy 48 0 40.1 5.1 67.0 0 92.3 49

Depressed girl 50 7.6 54.7 4.4 52.0 21.0 40.0 53

nondepressed girl 50 10.7 7.8 0 55.1 1.2 95.7 45

Depressed^e boy 56 6.7 2.9 39.4 11.3 0 46.0 72

nondepressed boy 56 26.6 52.8 9.5 25.9 1.9 93.0 57

Depressed boy 65 13.0 12.7 11.0 0 0 0 74

nondepressed boy 65 0 85.5 0 72.7 0 94.5 39

Depressed girl 67 16.8 14.5 15.9 39.7 9.9 47.7 59

nondepressed girl 67 22.4 71.4 10.2 63.2 0 98.9 32

Depressed boy 71 20.8 37.8 0 73.8 0 72.6 38

nondepressed boy 71 33.0 35.1 14.0 72.1 0 100.0 38

Note. solFP = solitary free play situation; intFP = interactive free play situation; Pnar = play narrative situation (neutral and mood induction combined); ManPl = manipulative play behavior;

symPl = symbolic play behavior.

a Data represent the percentage of time during which each kind of play behavior occurred, for each play situation.

b Mean of percentage durations from Pnar-Mi-happy, Pnar-Mi-sad, and Pnar-nt.

c number of changes from one behavior category to another, summed over all play situations.

d this participant had comorbid Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified.

e this participant had comorbid attention-Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder.

DEPrEssion anD Play in Early ChilDhooD 39

no statistically significant effects were found for age, gender, or order of presentation.