The Play and Development Study Jake Rowley, Hollie Roper, & Dannelle Larsen-Rife Dixie State University Play is essential to growth and development across the lifespan as it benefits mental and physical health. Throughout nature, play behavior is observed among animals and humans as a necessity for development and survival. Although play has been associated with optimism, curiosity, progressive mastery, self-regulation, imaginative problem-solving, and increased perseverance, play is increasingly diminished in the United States. Many researchers and clinical practitioners have mentioned the effect of play deprivation and developmental problems, but play deprivation is understudied at the current time with limited findings to support theories about play deprivation. The present study examines the effects of play on social and emotional development in children. Lower levels of play and fewer opportunities to play were negatively associated with delinquent behaviors. This study is the beginning of research of how play deprivation affects people’s lives. The problem of play deprivation and the effects it has on young people who were deprived needs to be researched in the future to try to find interventions that may help them with the experiences they missed due to lack of play in their lives.
