ESPE Abstracts

Background: Gender role behaviour refers to a set of behaviours that differ for boys and girls, although its source and development remain controversial. Gender differences in the choice of toys and activities are observed as early as 12 months. Ad hoc tests, such as the Toy Preference Test (TPT), have been developed to highlight gender differences in paediatric populations. The aim of our study was to investigate play behaviour, to determine which toys are more appealing to 15-month-old children using the TPT and to detect any relationship with minipuberty.

Methods: Single-centre, prospective birth-cohort study. TPT was performed at 15 months, during which free play activity was recorded for 8 minutes according to standardised method. Games were categorized as: neutral (book, ball, soft toy), feminine (tea set, kitchen, doll), masculine (car, tractor, shape sorter). Measures of interest were assessed by considering the amount of time the child spent playing/being involved in each game. Urinary hormonal profile (LH, FSH, testosterone and oestradiol) was assessed at 0,3 and 6 months through immunoassay.

Results: 23 children (11 males, 48%) were enrolled. Overall, gender-typed toys (79.2%) were preferred to gender-neutral ones (20.8%). Boys played mainly with masculine (50.5%) and feminine (41.9%) games spending few time with neutral toys (7.6%) Girls had a clear preference for female toys (48.6%) and spent long time playing with neutral games (33%), a time significantly higher compared to boys (P <0.05). Boys used more masculine games compared to girls (P <0.05), while there were no differences in the use of feminine games within males and females. Considering individual toys, boys played significantly longer than girls with the toy car (P <0.01) and tractor (P < 0.05), which was never used by the girls. In addition, girls played significantly more with the book than boys (p: 0.001). No significant differences in playtime were observed for the other toys. In the overall population, FSH and Estradiol at 3 and 6 months were negatively related to total-timing and percentage of masculine play.

Conclusion: Girls prefer to play with feminine and neutral toys and use the latter significantly more than boys. Males focus primarily on masculine and female toys. Differences in behaviours may be related to the minipuberty trend and to the consequent gender differences in neurodevelopmental functions: while boys are more involved in gross motor functions and performances areas of development, girls are more involved in eye-hand coordination and personal-emotional development.