The relationship between school-age children’s perceptions of their playfulness and interoceptive awareness: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT Playfulness is a key element in determining the play quality of children and interoceptive awareness (IA) has the potential to influence a range of elements of children’s play. IA refers to a person’s conscious perception of his/her internal bodily processes. This study investigated the association between school-age children’s perceptions of their IA and aspects of their playfulness. Thirty typically developing children aged between eight and 12 years completed the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness-Youth (MAIA-y), Child Self-Report Playfulness (CSRP) scale and the Children’s Perception of Their Play (CPTP) scale. Data were analysed using Spearman rho correlations and linear regressions with bootstrapping. The MAIA-y Self-Regulation subscale was predictive of the CSRP total scale score, accounting for 9.3% of its variance (p < 0.05). The MAIA-y Not-Distracting subscale was a significant predictor of the CPTP Social Play subscale, accounting for 18.1% of its variance (p = .011). The MAIA-y Emotional Awareness subscale was found to be a significant predictor of the CPTP Free Time subscale, accounting for 15.4% of its variance (p = .018). These findings provide some preliminary evidence about the relationship between school-age children’s perceptions of their playfulness and interoceptive awareness. This provides valuable insights for therapists, educators and health professionals working with children.