ABSTRACT
The parent-toddler play coding scheme (PTPCS) outlined here was developed to code videotaped observations of parent-toddler play under relatively naturalistic conditions in the home setting. The PTPCS is based on a view of parent-child interactions as containing vertical and horizontal components. The scheme places particular emphasis on horizontal aspects of parent-child play. The observations for which the PTPCS was developed were collected as part of a short-term longitudinal study of family influences on children’s peer skills and social competence. Underlying the research aims and design was a family systems approach (P. Minuchin, 1985; S.Minuchin, 1974). A component of this approach is the view that the dyadic play of children and their parents is influenced by both the charac-teristics of the child and by the characteristics of the parent with whom the child is playing (Bell & Harper, 1977; Kochanska, 1997; Kuczynski, Marshall, & Schell, 1997; A.Russell & G.Russell, 1992; Stevenson, Leavitt, Thompson, & Roach, 1988). In other words, the play behavior of the parent and the child is part of a reciprocal, bidirectional system.
