PONE-D-23-42264Humor in Parenting: Does It Have a Role?PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Levi,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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The article, as acknowledged by the reviewers, explores the role of humour in parenting. However, there are several aspects that could be implemented to improve the quality of the work. These aspects concern firstly, as the reviewer points out (2), the use of concepts and references to theory that should be made more explicit.  I recommend the authors to follow the suggestions of both reviewers in a timely manner.

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Ramona Bongelli, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

The article, as acknowledged by the reviewers, explores the role of humour in parenting. However, there are several aspects that could be implemented to improve the quality of the work. These aspects concern firstly, as the reviewer points out (2), the use of concepts and references to theory that should be made more explicit. I recommend the authors to follow the suggestions of both reviewers in a timely manner.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The manuscript brings original research in the field of parent-child interactions and humor in parenting. The research question is well developed and its presentation is clear enough for the reader. Discussion and conclusion are warranted by the results of the research. The manuscript is well-written and has clear and logical structure.

I have only two minor observations for the authors to consider:

1)On pag. 5, lines 99-100, the authors give a philosophical and psychological overview of the main theories on humour, but only Morreall's philosophical work is mentioned (line 106). I would suggest adding Martin's book 'The psychology of humour. An integrative approach' (2018), for a more complete picture.

2)It is not clear which statistical test was used for the results presented in Tables 2 and 3. I assume they are Pearson correlations, but it would be better to make this explicit. Furthermore, the data in Tables 2 and 3 are not easy to interpret compared to what is clearly stated in the text. I would suggest modifying accordingly.

Reviewer #2: The paper provides an interesting exploration of the potential role of humor in parenting. However, there are several areas that need attention to enhance the clarity, structure, and coherence of the paper. My primary concern with this paper is the oversimplification of the term "humor." There is a substantial body of literature that investigates the differentiation of humor types, such as Humor Styles (Martin et al., 2003) and Comic Styles (Ruch et al., 2018). Therefore, in my opinion, this paper lacks the necessary depth and quality to be considered for publication.

In the introduction, I expected the authors to delve deeper into research exploring the relationship between humor and attachment, particularly addressing the challenges young children face in detecting and understanding irony and sarcasm.

Moreover, the introduction could benefit from a clearer statement of the paper's objectives and research questions to guide the reader.

It would be helpful to provide clear definitions or explanations for terms such as "cognitive flexibility," "frameshifts," and "psychological distance" to ensure that the reader understands these concepts in the context of the paper.

The literature review is not comprehensive and do not cover a range of theories and studies related to humor and parenting, especially related to attachment theory. I therefore recommend the authors to cite more literature in this field.

The paper discusses various theories of humor but could provide a more critical analysis of how these theories apply to parenting. For example, the paper mentions that incongruity-based humor contradicts the need for consistency in parenting, but it could delve deeper into how parents can balance humor and consistency effectively.

The paper identifies a significant gap in empirical research on humor as a parenting strategy. However, the paper could strengthen its argument by discussing why this gap exists and why it is important to address it.

The conclusion summarizes the key points of the paper but could be strengthened by revisiting the research questions and summarizing the potential implications of the study's findings. Additionally, the paper could provide more specific recommendations for future research to address the identified gaps and limitations.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Humor in Parenting: Does It Have a Role?

PONE-D-23-42264R1

Dear Dr. Levi,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Ramona Bongelli, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #2: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #2: Thank you for addeessing the concerns. In my opinion the paper is now ready for publication as there are no more concerns to be addressed

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #2: No

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