VARIABILITY IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD PLAY-BEHAVIOR - EFFECTS OF GENDER, AGE, AND FAMILY BACKGROUND

Parent-report questionnaires for the assessment of gender-normative an d gender-atypical behavior in childhood offers researchers the opportu nity to conduct large-scale screenings of community samples of boys an d girls. One important aspect of childhood gender role behavior includ es play. Although play behavior inventories have been used clinically for the identification of gender disturbed boys, recent community-base d surveys of play behavior in both genders are lacking. The present po stal questionnaire survey of parents of 688, 6- to 10-year-old childre n (boys = 333, girls = 355) attending one public school district (74% of the eligible sample), clarifies how subject's age, family race/ethn icity, and socioeconomic status influence Sender differences in play. Significant gender differences were detected for 63 of the 69 games. W ith but few exceptions, the magnitude of the gender differences in pla y remained relatively constant across middle childhood. Older boys and girls decreased their participation in activities numerically dominat ed by girls whereas the reverse was true for male-dominated activities . Parents' educational level influenced play for only a minority of it ems. Finally, whereas race/ethnicity significantly predicted game/acti vity participation in approximately one half of