Play Behaviors in Latino Dual Language Learners: The Relationship between Maternal Characteristics and Classroom Peer Play

In Head Start, 28.8% of the children enrolled are Dual Language Learners (DLLs), and 84.4% of those speak Spanish as their home language. However, there are limited studies involving DLLs. Using the Ecological Model of Human Development framework with current revisions with culture as part of the microsystem (Bronfenbrenner, 1994; Vélez-Agosto et al., 2017), the current study aimed to identify maternal level factors that may relate to Latinos\u27 classroom peer play while controlling for classroom quality. Forty-five Latino DLL children attending Head Start, their mothers, and their teachers participated in the study. Head Start administrators provided their most recent vocabulary subtest scores of VPK Assessment and their Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) scores. Child participants’ mothers completed the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (BAS), the Parenting Styles and Dimensions, and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS16). Additionally, teachers rated the children\u27s play behaviors with the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. None of the models were statistically significant, suggesting that maternal level of acculturation, parenting style, or depression do not predict peer play. Yet, there were significant negative correlations between acculturation to the Hispanic culture, permissive parenting style, and maternal depression with children’s VPK scores on the oral language/vocabulary subtest. Future studies should consider ecological and cultural approaches to allow for a broader view of Latinos\u27 development