Interaction of Social and Play Behaviors in Preschoolers With and Without Pervasive Developmental Disorder

This study investigated the relationship between the social and play behaviors of young children with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and without PDD. Videotaped observations of 21 preschool children (12 with PDD and 9 without PDD) were examined independently for (a) social complexity and (b) play complexity that was assessed on an individualized basis for each child. The researchers used log-linear analyses to analyze the data. The results supported an inverse relationship between play and social interaction: The children's play within a social interaction tended to be less complex than their play outside of the interaction. All children, regardless of diagnosis, demonstrated similar behavioral patterns, although the children without PDD engaged in social interaction to a greater extent. These results suggest that social interventions should be implemented in the context of play activities that the child has mastered, as opposed to those activities the child is in the process of learning.