Depth and Quality of Recommendations in Popular Sources About How to Play with Infants: Content Analysis

Systematically evaluate the depth and quality of play recommendations provided in popular sources for parents of infants in the first year of life. This represents the second stage of a larger analysis of educational content available to parents. Two coders (>90% agreement) extracted and coded play activities from popular websites, applications, and books screened from a systematic online search. Depth of instruction variables were extracted. Activity quality was rated based on opportunities for child-initiated movement, problem-solving with objects, and responsive communication. 4370 play activities from 214 sources were analyzed. Activities were likely to suggest specific ages for infants and that a caregiver be present. Less than half of the activities incorporated toys or provided guidance about how to position or physically support infants. Activity quality was low; most activities did not explicitly encourage parents to provide opportunities for child-initiated movement, problem-solving with objects, or quality communication. Parents may encounter a large number of play activities in popular sources, but the depth of instruction and quality of those activities could be improved. Provision of higher-quality education to parents may enhance parent-child play interactions to positively impact parent and child outcomes, especially for children at risk for delays.

本研究旨在系统性评估面向周岁内婴儿家长的主流育儿渠道所提供的游戏互动推荐内容的指导深度与活动质量。这是针对家长可获取的育儿教育内容开展的大型分析的第二阶段。两名编码员（编码一致性达90%以上）从经系统性线上检索筛选得到的主流育儿网站、应用程序及书籍中，提取并编码了相关游戏活动，并记录了指导深度相关变量。活动质量则依据儿童自主运动、借助物体进行问题解决以及回应性沟通这三类发展机会进行评级。本次分析共纳入214个信息来源中的4370项游戏互动活动。绝大多数推荐活动会明确标注适配的婴儿月龄，并提示需有照护者在场陪同。仅有不足半数的活动提及需使用玩具，或提供了关于如何调整婴儿体位、给予肢体扶助的指导建议。活动整体质量偏低：多数活动未明确引导家长为婴儿创造自主运动、借助物体解决问题以及高质量沟通的机会。家长在主流育儿渠道中可接触到海量游戏互动活动，但此类活动的指导深度与质量仍有较大提升空间。为家长提供更高质量的育儿教育指导，或可优化亲子游戏互动模式，进而对家长与儿童的发展结局产生积极影响，尤其对存在发育迟缓风险的儿童而言收益更为显著。