An examination of the association between neurotypical school-age children’s performance on two pretend play assessments

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pretend play is an important developmental milestone. Therefore, clinicians need access to validated pretend play assessments. The study investigated the convergent validity between the Animated Movie Test (AMT) and the Affect in Play Scale-Brief Rating Version (APS-BR) when completed by a sample of neurotypical school-aged children. Fourteen participant pairs of 14 children (9 girls, 5 boys) between eight and 10 years of age and one of their parents took part in the study. Children completed the AMT and APS-BR, and parents completed the Parent Report of Children’s Pretend Play (PRCPP). Spearman rho correlations were used to measure the association between each of the pretend play assessments. Significant positive associations were found between the AMT Initiation of Ideas subscale score and two of the APS-BR pretend play factor scores: Organization (rho = 0.571, p = .033) and Comfort in Play (rho = .537, p = .048). A significant positive association was also found between the AMT Total Setup and Preparation Score and the PRCPP’s total score (rho = .539, p = .047). The results of this preliminary study provide preliminary convergent validity evidence between the AMT and APS-BR. Further psychometric research of pretend play scales is recommended.