Relation between parental playfulness and child playfulness: mediating role of parent-child interaction

Playfulness plays a pivotal role in fostering individual development across cognitive, emotional, and creative domains. This study aims to investigate parental playfulness and playfulness among 681 Chinese children aged 3–6 years, including 356 boys (52.3%) and 325 girls (47.7%), by utilizing the Adult Playfulness Scale, Child Playfulness Scale, and Chinese Parent-Child Interaction Scale via online parent-reported questionnaires. Hayes’ PROCESS (Model 4) with 5000 bootstrap samples was used to test the mediating role of parent-child interaction between parental playfulness and child playfulness. Findings indicated satisfactory levels of parental playfulness and child playfulness. Parental playfulness can significantly and positively predict the level of children’s playfulness, and concurrently, parent-child interaction serves as a partial mediator in the association between parental playfulness and children’s playfulness. The study underscores how parental playfulness not only directly influences child playfulness but also shapes it through parent-child interactions. Parents should adopt a scientific perspective and increase their understanding of playfulness. Improving the quality of parent-child interaction and creating playful interactive opportunities are crucial for fostering comprehensive child playfulness development.