Creating Bonding Experiences Between Children and Their Parents Through Cooperative Touch Gameplay
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Abstract
Background and Purpose: A child's connection and bond with their primary caregiver, usually a parent, influences how the child's brain develops. Touch is heavily associated with positive emotions, moods, and feelings that create bonds. Will playing a game increase feelings of bonding between the parent and child? The purpose of the study was to assess parents' bond with their child after playing a cooperative game involving physical touch.
Theoretical Framework: This study used Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, specifically that love and belonging are a human requirement for psychological growth.
Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental pre/post design. Due to COVID-19, this study was completed remotely using the Zoom platform. Parents were recruited through The Ohio State University's faculty and staff via email. Parents completed a five-item, five-point Likert-style (0 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) survey using a secure online platform, examining the connection and bond they felt with their child before and after playing the game. This study was part of a larger parent study exploring parent-child dyads playing a collaborative game on an iPad using touch sensors.
Results: Nine parent-child dyads participated. Five girls and four boys with a mean age of 7 years (range 5-9 years) and eight mothers and one father (mean age of 42 years) participated. Of those enrolled, 100% completed all surveys and participated fully. All parents reported that they felt connected with their child on an emotional level post gameplay. There was no statistical significance when comparing pre- to post-gameplay bonding total scores (p=0.313), however, two questions related to bonding obtained medium effects sizes (d>0.5).
Conclusion: Results were not statistically significant mainly due to the small sample size and a ceiling effect. Parents reported a high (4 or 5) connection to their child before the gameplay intervention, leaving little to no room for growth. However, the participating parents displayed happiness and satisfaction being able to connect with their child emotionally and physically.