Parents' Language Use and Interaction Styles During Interactive Play: A Gender Research

Objectives: Studies suggest that parents may use different speech and play behaviors with daughters and sons. This study aimed to examine the interaction styles of Turkish-speaking parents with their 24–36-month-old daughters and sons and to explore gender-based differences in parent-child interactions.Materials and Methods: The study included 39 mothers and their children aged 24–36 months (17 girls, 22 boys). Demographic information was obtained using the Family Interview Form. Parents were asked to play with their children for 10 minutes using toys of their choice, as they would in daily life. Interactions were video-recorded and transcribed by two independent researchers. Parental utterances were analyzed, interaction styles were coded based on a predetermined scheme, and lexical diversity was measured. Gender-based differences were then examined.Results: A significant difference was found in the frequency of expressing opinions during play (p = 0.009), with parents expressing more opinions while interacting with daughters. Although parents showed higher lexical diversity (TTR) with daughters, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.069). No significant differences were found in parental behaviors based on education level. Conclusion: Parents use different interaction styles with daughters and sons. More opinions were expressed during play with daughters, and a tendency toward greater lexical diversity was observed. These results suggest that parental language interactions may vary by child gender.