Gender-specific characteristics of 5-year-olds' play narratives and associations with behavior ratings

Objectives:To examine the content and structure of children's play narrativ es in a large sample of 5-year-olds in order to replicate previous findings , explore the role of gender differences, and identify a pattern that can p rovide useful information about children's behavior. Method: The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and coding system was used to code content themes and co herence from play narratives of 652 twins in a nonclinical sample. To measu re behavior problems, parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist when t heir children were aged 5 and 7 years; teachers completed the Teacher's Rep ort Form when the children were aged 7 years. Results: Girls told more cohe rent narratives with less aggression than boys. Aggressive themes were foun d to correlate with behavior problems as in previous studies. Upon further examination, this correlation held for girls but not boys. Children who tol d repeated aggressive/incoherent narratives had more behavior problems than those who did not show this narrative pattern. Conclusions: The Story Stem methodology is useful for gaining access into the young child's inner worl d. The gender of the child, content of the story, and coherence of the stor y all provide useful information in identifying narratives that may indicat e more risk for behavior problems.