Relationship between Socio-Dramatic Play and Self-Regulation Skills in Early Childhood

Abstract

Purpose: Socio-dramatic play is important for supporting self-regulation skills in early childhood, and the complexity level of socio-dramatic play may increase the need for self-regulation skills. This study examined the relationship between the self-regulation skills of 60- to 86-month-old preschoolers and the complexity of socio-dramatic play better to understand the link between socio-dramatic play and self-regulation skills.
 Methodology: This study was designed as associational research to examine whether self-regulation skills based on teachers' and mothers' views relate to socio-dramatic play's aspects and complexity levels. The participants consisted of 51 preschool children attending two public schools in Turkey. Children's self-regulation skills (attention, working memory, and inhibitory control) were measured using self-regulation scales with teacher and mother forms. The socio-dramatic play was assessed using an observational tool consisting of three aspects (symbolic agent, symbolic substitution, and symbolic complexity). 
 Findings: Findings revealed that self-regulation skills (inhibitory control and attention) showed a statistically significant difference in favor of children who engaged in sociodramatic play with high symbolic complexity. The working memory did not differ significantly regarding symbolic complexity. The teacher and mother reports revealed that self-regulation skills' attention, working memory, and inhibitory control dimensions did not relate to the aspects of symbolic agent and symbolic substitution. 
 Highlights: These findings indicate that only the symbolic complexity aspect of socio-dramatic play is positively associated with preschoolers' self-regulation skills (inhibitory control and attention). Results were discussed concerning the literature on socio-dramatic play and self-regulation.