Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “PLAY”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 325 records · Page 18Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

Heart rate response during handball singles match-play and selected physical fitness components of experienced male handball players.

Limited information is available concerning the exercise response during handball (HB) singles match-play. Also, few studies exist that have examined VO2 peak and body composition of HB players. The purpose of this study was to examine the heart rate (HR) response during match play and peak physiologic responses and relative fat in twelve experienced HB players. Peak physiologic responses were measured during treadmill running and body composition was assessed via hydrodensiotometry. During HB match-play, HR was measured and stored every five seconds using a Polar Vantage XL heart watch. Physical characteristics and peak physiologic responses included the following: Age (yrs) 47.2; BW (kg) 78.0; height (cm) 178.9; % fat 18.9; VO2 peak (ml.kg-1.min-1) 48.0; RER peak 1.03; HR peak (bpm) 183.1 and lactic acid peak (mmol.l-1) 10.3. During HB match-play, HR averaged 85% of peak during one hour of play. Moreover, 67% of match-play time, HR was > 80% of peak. When HR responses were examined over one hour of match-play (twelve, five minute blocks) only the first five minutes were significantly different (lower) than the other 55 minutes. The exercise intensity and the relatively stable HR response observed during HB suggests that this activity appears to be appropriate for meeting the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines to develop and maintain cardiorespiratory fitness.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The Dutch instant lottery: prevalence and correlates of at-risk playing.

After a long and contentious political debate, the instant lottery was introduced in the Netherlands in 1994. One of the conditions for allowing the introduction was that an evaluation study should be conducted with regard to possible negative side effects of the instant lottery in terms of excessive playing or addiction. This article reports on the main results of this evaluation study. In a random sample of 4497 instant lottery players, at-risk players were differentiated from recreative players on the basis of level of involvement in the instant lottery, impaired control and the experienced negative consequences of playing. Of the sample, 4.1% could be classified as an at-risk player. Actual problems resulting from playing in the instant lottery were experienced by 0.7% of the players. At-risk players and recreative players did not only differ substantially in their playing behaviour, but also with regard to their socio-economic background, playing motivation, participation in other games of chance, and involvement in alcohol use and use of marijuana. To summarize, at-risk players were more likely to come from a poor socio-economic background, to play the instant lottery with a negative playing motivation, to be heavily involved in other forms of gambling, to have used marijuana and to drink alcohol excessively.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Therapeutic play and bone marrow transplantation.

Constructive, therapeutic play is an essential part of the care of children with long-term hospitalizations. The O'Connor theoretical framework supports the importance of play in ensuring the emotional, developmental, and physical health of children. The negative effects of long-term hospitalization are particularly evident for children who have undergone bone marrow transplants and must be kept in germ-free environment and isolation for extended periods of time. This article describes a successful play therapy program in a Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, using a play cabinet designed to provide readily available, sterilized toys that are appropriate for each of four age groups. Two cases are presented that show the efficacy of the use of the play cabinet in play therapy programs.

Bone Marrow Transplantation↗
PubMed1989

Fantasy play in 5- and 6-year-old children.

We studied the verbal pretend play of 5- and 6-year-old boys and girls to delineate age and sex differences during the later preoperational period. Sixteen children with average language ability were paired by age and sex and were videotaped for three 15-min intervals. Verbal interactions were transcribed, and the pretend play was classified as object fantasy, imaginative action plans/themes, or fantasy roles. Language used for pretend play increased in proportion to all utterances with age. Older children referred to more invented objects than younger ones but primarily in the service of realistic action formats. Girls' conversations were scored as having significantly more verbal pretending than boys' and a higher proportion of it referred to play roles. There were both age and sex differences in the types of themes, toys used, and roles enacted, including more sex-typed behavior in older children. The continued increase in the proportion of pretend play to all verbal interaction with age and the characteristics of play behavior is consistent with developmental theory.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2003

Doing play: competency, control, and expression.

This qualitative study investigated the personal experiences of children with cerebral palsy engaging in a virtual reality play intervention program. The study involved in-depth, focused interviews that were conducted with 19 participants aged 8-13 who had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. A constant comparative inductive method of analysis was used, and several themes emerged. Findings were interpreted using the theory of flow, the theory of self-efficacy, and the model of playfulness in virtual reality computer interactions. The three themes uncovered in the data include (a) doing play, (b) it's my way that matters, and (c) how I see me. The sub-theme safety also emerged. Findings from this study showed that children with physical disabilities are often limited in their play experience compared to their peers without physical disabilities. Children perceived engagement in a virtual reality play intervention program as an enjoyable experience which increased their self-competence and self-efficacy. Participants experienced a sense of control and mastery over the virtual environment and were provided a safe way to explore and challenge their abilities. Participants perceived experiencing flow and reported perceived physical changes and increased social acceptance from both peers and family. These findings provide evidence that virtual reality continues to show promise as a pediatric rehabilitation play intervention tool.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Play in evolution, culture, and individual adaptation: implications for therapy.

In this paper human play is examined from the perspective of its role in evolution. A model of social evolution is proposed to extend the model of biological evolution and to demonstrate the central role of play in the social-evolutionary process. Since in evolution play is a mechanism for its process, it demands species members who are playful. Thus, man is a player by virtue of species membership and the evolutionary pathway of the species. The implications of this deep-seated characteristic of playfulness are discussed in terms of human development. Finally, a set of principles is derived from the evolutionary-developmental characteristics of play. Application of these principles in clinical practice is demonstrated and discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[OPD-diagnostics of child play].

Up to now there have been only a few attempts at using child play as a diagnostic instrument for distinguishing different psychic disturbances. In this article the author proposes different dimensions of evaluating child play diagnostically, serving to classify the respective integration level. They are dimensions such as the relation reality/phantasy, bodily action, as if ability, play duration, contents and quality, and play development. Play is understood here essentially as a child's one-sided enactment. With case examples the author clarifies how child play is to be understood on different integration levels using the evaluation criteria.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Association between children's dental behavior and play behavior.

The results of this study showed that clinical distinctions can be made regarding the behavior of children in the dental setting and that these distinctions are reflected in the behavior of these children in an easily-arranged play situation. The existence of such associations of behavior presents the possibility that play behavior may be a reliable predictor of maladaptive dental behavior. If so, the incorporation of a play dental area into a dental office would be an inexpensive and convenient method of intercepting potential problem dental patients. If the results of this study can be replicated, they would support the initiation of a study to predict the behavior of children in the dental setting by means of easily scorable aspects of their play behavior in a simulated dental environment. Special management considerations could then be made to prevent disruptive behavior at subsequent appointments. The results also point up the tendency of problem patients to avoid certain aspects of the play dental experience. This suggests a possible treatment potential for the dental play area, using it as an instrument to desensitize appropriate patients to those aspects of dental treatment which distress them, and thereby reduce their anxieties, prior to actual dental treatment.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1976

Sex-typed play in feminoid boys versus normal boys and girls.

Procedures for assessing children's sex-typed play were developed which (a) examined children's continuous play in four sessions totaling 20 minutes rather than measuring only initial choice of a sex-typed toy, and (b) did not impose the stimulus-specific condition of requiring an adult experimenter to be present to administer the task. Play with "masculine" and "feminine" toys was observed for 120 normal children (60 boys, 60 girls) aged 3 yr.-8 yr., and 15 similarly aged boys diagnosed as having childhood gender disturbance. Significant differences were found in the sex-typed play of the two normal groups, but no age differences were observed. The amount of feminine play by the feminoid boys was found to be significantly greater than that of normal boys, but not significantly different from the predominantly feminine play patterns of the normal girls. The usefulness of such a measure for the clinical assessment of deviant sex-role development in young children is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1982

Sex-typing of play and psychological adjustment in young children: an empirical investigation.

Traditional assumptions that sex-role conformity is positively related to psychological adjustment in young children have not, to date, been examined empirically. Seventy-four preschool children, 37 boys and 37 girls aged 3 to 5, were observed over a 3-month period to determine their frequency of play in male and female sex-typed activities during the freeplay period in their classrooms. Teacher ratings on the Kohn and Rosman Symptom Checklist and Social Competence Scale were correlated with individuals' rates of play in male and female preferred activities (M and F scales, respectively). Results indicated that boys' play with male-preferred toys was related to high scores on the "aggression/defiance" dimension of the Symptom Checklist, while boys who scored highly on play in female-preferred activities received high scores on the Social Competence dimension labeled "conforming to classroom rules." For girls, play with male-preferred toys was negatively related to the "apathy/withdrawal" dimension of the Symptom Checklist. These results do not confirm the hypothesis that sex-typed behavior is positively related to adjustment, and they suggest that for both sexes, play in opposite sex-typed activities may contribute positively to children's social and academic functioning in the classroom.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Symbolic play in autism: a review.

Experimental research into the symbolic play of autistic children is reviewed in an attempt to outline the nature of their deficit in this area. While many studies can be criticized on methodological grounds, there is good evidence for an impairment in the spontaneous symbolic play of autistic children, an impairment that appears to extend to cover spontaneous functional play also. However studies that have investigated elicited and instructed play have indicated that autistic children may have a capacity for symbolic play that they do not spontaneously exhibit. The implications of these findings for various hypotheses concerning a symbolic play deficit in autism are considered and directions for future research are outlined.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1985

The symbolic and object play of children with autism: a review.

The unique characteristics of autistic children's symbolic and object play are presented and discussed in the context of a literature review covering research since 1964. Several theoretical issues are highlighted: the relationship of play in facilitating language and cognition, play as an intervention, and play as an assessment tool. Difficulties in research methodology due to pooling autistic and schizophrenic subject are raised, as well as possible difficulties inherent in ignoring severity levels within the autistic population. The appropriateness of play therapy is questioned, and evidence is presented to provide encouragement for further inquiry into the study of autistic play.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

The Lowe and Costello Symbolic Play Test in socially impaired children.

The Symbolic Play Test was given to 31 socially impaired and 29 sociable children retarded in language comprehension, with the same range of age (5 to 12 years) and intelligence (profoundly retarded to normal). Play test age and spontaneous pretend play were at a similar level in the sociable children, but, in the socially impaired, spontaneous pretend play was lower than the play test age would predict. In some of the latter it was absent, and in the others it was narrow and repetitive in form. For subgroups of socially impaired and sociable children with similar play ages, there was no significant difference in language comprehension age. The discrepancy, in socially impaired children, between levels on tests and spontaneous use of skills was discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Prenatal stress potentiates stress-induced behavior and reduces the propensity to play in juvenile rats.

We examined the hypothesis that prenatal stress potentiates defensive responsiveness which may interfere with the expression of appetitive behavioral activities. Sibling pairs of prenatally stressed and control juvenile rats were placed in an unfamiliar environment. The latency and frequency of social play, a sought-after activity of juvenile rats, were measured on 4 successive days beginning at 25 days of age. However, on Day 27, electric foot shock was administered in order to assess directly whether exposure to threat facilitates the occurrence of defensive behavior in prenatally stressed rats. In addition, to determine whether previous exposure to threat produces long-term suppressive effects on play, rats were retested on Day 28 in the absence of shock. Throughout the testing period, the latency to play, as indicated by one rat pouncing on the opponent, was significantly higher in prenatally stressed than control rats. The frequency of play, however, did not differ reliably between groups. These data suggest that prenatally stressed rats take longer to adapt to the test situation before initiating play than control rats. In both groups, exposure to shock on Day 27 significantly increased the latency to play. More importantly, prenatally stressed rats exhibited significantly higher durations of defensive freezing than control animals. When retested on Day 28, however, the duration of freezing declined significantly and no longer differed between groups. Data appear to support the hypothesis that prenatally stressed juvenile rats are responsive to stress which may modulate the inclination to exhibit social behavior.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1994

Effects of neonatal decortication on the social play of juvenile rats.

The effects of radical neonatal decortication on the social play of juvenile rats, as well as the effects of neonatal ablation of frontal or parietal cortex, were examined in this series of experiments. When total decorticates were tested in like-lesioned pairs, the frequency of pinning was reduced by about 50% and their average pin durations were shorter. Nevertheless, the play of decorticates appeared essentially normal in general appearance, and did not differ from controls in a measure of overall play vigor using an electronic activity platform. Further, there were no differences in pin frequencies when controls and decorticates were paired together in cross-lesion testing. Separate tests of play solicitation behaviors did not detect any differences between controls and decorticates suggesting that play motivation was essentially intact after decortication. No deficits in pinning resulted from frontal ablations; however, pin durations were shorter in like-lesion testing. In cross-lesion testing, there was an increase in dorsal contacts and a trend toward shortening of pin durations. Parietal aspirations resulted in a 65% reduction in pin frequency, without substantially altering dorsal contacts. Anesthetization of the anterior surface of the animal's back with xylocaine reduced pinning in controls but eliminated pinning in parietals. Although the results generally indicate little participation of the neocortex in the instigation of rough-and-tumble play, the reliable numerical changes that were observed may be explained by apparent motor changes as well as reduced somatosensory sensitivity.

Aging↗
PubMed2006

The effects of selective breeding for infant ultrasonic vocalizations on play behavior in juvenile rats.

For over 25 generations, two lines of rats (High and Low USV lines) have been selectively bred for extreme rates of infantile (45 kHz) ultrasonic vocalizations (USV) in response to maternal separation at postnatal day (P)10. High and low line juveniles (P30-P40) were socially isolated and allowed to play in same-sex sibling pairs for 10 min per day over three days. Measures of play were nape contacts and pinning. Other social and nonsocial behaviors were also scored during the three sessions; two of these, 55 kHz USV and walk-overs, were statistically associated with play. Compared to the Random control line, both High and Low line juveniles showed deficits in play behavior. In the High line, play initiatory behavior (nape contacts) was reduced, but pinning, USV and walk-overs were relatively unchanged. In contrast, nape contacts, pinning, USV and walk-overs were all reduced in Low line juveniles compared to Random line controls. The results suggest that selection for extremes of infant USV rates has produced temperamental differences that are expressed in juvenile play in the High and Low USV lines.

Aging↗
PubMed2003

Modeling ADHD-type arousal with unilateral frontal cortex damage in rats and beneficial effects of play therapy.

It has been recently shown that human adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have frontal lobe deficits, especially on the right sides of their brains (). ADHD is commonly treated with psychostimulants which may have adverse consequences. Hence, less invasive therapies need to be developed. In the present work, we tested the ability of right frontal lesions to induce hyperactivity in rats. We also evaluated the effects of chronic play therapy during early adolescence to reduce both hyperactivity and the elevated playfulness later in development. Play therapy was able to reduce both hyperactivity and excessive playfulness. In additional work, we found that access to rough-and-tumble play in normal animals could enhance subsequent behavioral indices of behavioral inhibition (i.e., freezing in response to a startle stimulus) that appeared to be independent of increased fearfulness and fatigue. Overall, these results suggest that (1) neonatal frontal lobe lesions can be used as an animal model of the overactivity in ADHD and (2) rough-and-tumble play therapy may be a new useful treatment for ADHD.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

College students' self-reported reasons for playing drinking games.

Two samples of college students who engage in drinking games completed questions about their drinking behavior, a set of items concerning their reasons for playing drinking games, and various self-report measures of personality. Principal components analysis using the first sample yielded four factors: Relaxation & Disinhibition, Fun & Celebration, Conformity, and Sexual Manipulation. A similar factor structure was also obtained in the second sample. In both samples, Fun & Celebration and Sexual Manipulation reasons were most strongly predictive of frequency of play and quantity of alcohol consumed while playing. In men, Sexual Manipulation reasons for play predicted frequency of taking sexual advantage of others during play. Endorsement of Conformity and Relaxation & Disinhibition reasons were associated with high social anxiety and low assertiveness. Reasons for play predicted consumption, both in drinking-game situations and overall, even after removing variance due to general reasons for drinking. Psychometric properties of the current measure are less than ideal, but the constructs identified appear to have important implications for prevention. Assessment of self-reported reasons for drinking in specific situations may be a generally useful strategy.

Adolescent↗