Early prediction of language and literacy problems: is 18 months too early?
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Duff FJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4517956 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundResearch has highlighted a series of persistent deficits in cognitive ability in preterm low-birth-weight children. Language and attention problems are among these deficits, although the nature of the relation between attention and language in early development is not well known. This study represents a preliminary attempt to shed light on the relations between attention problems and language development in preterm low-birth-weight children.MethodsThe aim of this study was to analyse reciprocal influences between language and attention problems from 18 to 36 months. We used maternal reports on attention problems and language ability referring to a sample of 1288 premature low-birth-weight infants, collected as part of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). A sample of children born full-term was used as the control group (N = 37010). Cross-lagged panel analyses were carried out to study reciprocal influences between attention problems and language.ResultsLanguage ability at 18 months did not significantly predict attention problems at 36 months, adjusting for attention problems at 18 months. Attention problems at 18 months significantly predicted changes in language ability from 18 to 36 months, pointing to a precursor role of attention in relation to language in children born preterm. Gender, age corrected for prematurity, and mother's education emerged as important covariates.ConclusionsPreliminary evidence was found for a precursor role of early attention problems in relation to language in prematurity. This finding can contribute to a better understanding of the developmental pathways of attention and language and lead to better management of unfavourable outcomes associated with co-morbid attention and language difficulties.
| S-EPMC3163534 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Purpose The ability to identify children early in development who are at substantial risk for language/literacy difficulties would have great benefit both for the children and for the educational and therapeutic institutions that serve them. Information that is relatively easily available prior to the age of 3 years, such as late talking, family history of language/literacy difficulties, and socioeconomic status, have some but very limited predictive power. Here, we examine whether the inclusion of a DNA-based genome-wide polygenic score that has been shown to capture children's genetic propensity for educational attainment (EA3) adds enough prediction to yield a clinically useful score. Method Data are longitudinal scores of 1,420 children from the Twins Early Development Study, who were assessed at ages 2 and 3 years on language and nonverbal ability and at 12 years of age on oral language, word decoding, and reading comprehension. Five risk factors were examined: expressive vocabulary, nonverbal ability (these two from parent report), family history, mothers' education, and EA3. Analyses were conducted both for continuous and categorically defined measures of risk and outcome. Results Language and literacy abilities at 12 years of age were significantly but modestly predicted by the risk factors, with a small but significant added prediction from EA3. Indices of diagnostic validity for poor outcomes, such as sensitivity and area under the curve statistics, were poor in all cases. Conclusions We conclude that, at present, clinically useful prediction from toddlerhood remains an unattained goal. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12170331.
| S-EPMC7842126 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Spanish-speaking language-minority (LM) children are at an elevated risk of struggling academically and display signs of that risk during early childhood. Therefore, high-quality research is needed to identify instructional techniques that promote the school readiness of Spanish-speaking LM children. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention that utilized an experimental curriculum and two professional development models for the development of English and Spanish early literacy skills among LM children. We also evaluated whether LM children's proficiency in one language moderated the effect of the intervention on early literacy skills in the other language, as well as whether the intervention was differentially effective for LM and monolingual English-speaking children. Five hundred twenty-six Spanish-speaking LM children and 447 monolingual English-speaking children enrolled in 26 preschool centers in Los Angeles, CA participated in this study. Results indicated that the intervention was effective for improving LM children's code-related but not language-related English early literacy skills. There were no effects of the intervention on children's Spanish early literacy skills. Proficiency in Spanish did not moderate the effect of the intervention for any English early literacy outcomes; however, proficiency in English significantly moderated the effect of the intervention for Spanish oral language skills, such that the effect of the intervention was stronger for children with higher proficiency in English than it was for children with lower proficiency in English. In general, there were not differential effects of the intervention for LM and monolingual children. Taken together, these findings indicate that high-quality, evidence-based instruction can improve the early literacy skills of LM children and that the same instructional techniques are effective for enhancing the early literacy skills of LM and monolingual children.
| S-EPMC5621762 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Early language development sets the stage for a lifetime of competence in language and literacy. However, the neural mechanisms associated with the relative advantages of early communication success, or the disadvantages of having delayed language development, are not well explored. In this study, 174 elementary school-age children whose parents reported that they started forming sentences 'early', 'on-time' or 'late' were evaluated with standardized measures of language, reading and spelling. All oral and written language measures revealed consistent patterns for 'early' talkers to have the highest level of performance and 'late' talkers to have the lowest level of performance. We report functional magnetic resonance imaging data from a subset of early, on-time and late talkers matched for age, gender and performance intelligence quotient that allows evaluation of neural activation patterns produced while listening to and reading real words and pronounceable non-words. Activation in bilateral thalamus and putamen, and left insula and superior temporal gyrus during these tasks was significantly lower in late talkers, demonstrating that residual effects of being a late talker are found not only in behavioural tests of oral and written language, but also in distributed cortical-subcortical neural circuits underlying speech and print processing. Moreover, these findings suggest that the age of functional language acquisition can have long-reaching effects on reading and language behaviour, and on the corresponding neurocircuitry that supports linguistic function into the school-age years.
| S-EPMC3139938 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Intersensory processing of social events (e.g., matching sights and sounds of audiovisual speech) is a critical foundation for language development. Two recently developed protocols, the Multisensory Attention Assessment Protocol (MAAP) and the Intersensory Processing Efficiency Protocol (IPEP), assess individual differences in intersensory processing at a sufficiently fine-grained level for predicting developmental outcomes. Recent research using the MAAP demonstrates 12-month intersensory processing of face-voice synchrony predicts language outcomes at 18- and 24-months, holding traditional predictors (parent language input, SES) constant. Here, we build on these findings testing younger infants using the IPEP, a more comprehensive, fine-grained index of intersensory processing. Using a longitudinal sample of 103 infants, we tested whether intersensory processing (speed, accuracy) of faces and voices at 3- and 6-months predicts language outcomes at 12-, 18-, 24-, and 36-months, holding traditional predictors constant. Results demonstrate intersensory processing of faces and voices at 6-months (but not 3-months) accounted for significant unique variance in language outcomes at 18-, 24-, and 36-months, beyond that of traditional predictors. Findings highlight the importance of intersensory processing of face-voice synchrony as a foundation for language development as early as 6-months and reveal that individual differences assessed by the IPEP predict language outcomes even 2.5-years later.
| S-EPMC10564323 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The current study examines the nature and variability of parents' aid to preschoolers in the context of a shared writing task, as well as the relations between this support and children's literacy, vocabulary, and fine motor skills. In total, 135 preschool children (72 girls) and their parents (primarily mothers) in an ethnically diverse, middle-income community were observed while writing a semi-structured invitation for a pretend birthday party together. Children's phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, word decoding, vocabulary, and fine motor skills were also assessed. Results revealed that parents provided variable, but generally low-level, support for children's approximation of sound-symbol correspondence in their writing (i.e., graphophonemic support), as well as for their production of letter forms (i.e., print support). Parents frequently accepted errors rather than asking for corrections (i.e., demand for precision). Further analysis of the parent-child dyads (n = 103) who wrote the child's name on the invitation showed that parents provided higher graphophonemic, but not print, support when writing the child's name than other words. Overall parental graphophonemic support was positively linked to children's decoding and fine motor skills, whereas print support and demand for precision were not related to any of the child outcomes. In sum, this study indicates that while parental support for preschoolers' writing may be minimal, it is uniquely linked to key literacy-related outcomes in preschool.
| S-EPMC4183063 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMastering language involves the development of expressive and receptive skills among children. While it has been speculated that early temperament plays a role in the acquisition of language, the actual mechanism has not yet been explored. We investigated whether temperament at 18 months predicted expressive or receptive language skills at 40 months.MethodsA representative sample of 901 children and their mothers who were enrolled and followed-up longitudinally in the Hamamatsu Birth Cohort for Mothers and Children study was included in the analysis. Child temperament was measured at 18 months using the Japanese version of the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire. Expressive and receptive language skills were measured at 40 months using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning.ResultsThe multiple regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders, suggested that higher motor activation (fidgeting) at 18 months was associated with lower expressive and receptive language skills at 40 months. Higher perceptual sensitivity was associated with higher expressive and receptive language skills at 40 months.ConclusionsSpecific temperament at 18 months of age predicted the development of the child's expressive and receptive language skills at 40 months.
| S-EPMC8780364 | biostudies-literature
Project description:OBJECTIVE:To investigate associations in toddlers born extremely preterm (<28?weeks) between neonatal neuroimaging and 18- to 22-month developmental and behavioral outcomes. STUDY DESIGN:Cohort analysis from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network Surfactant Positive Airway Pressure and Pulse Oximetry Trial Neuroimaging and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Study of infants born extremely preterm. Subjects underwent cranial ultrasonography and near-term magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). At 18-22 months of corrected age, the assessment included the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA) Problem and Competence Scale scores and the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III). The BITSEA Problem Scale assesses dysregulation; the Competence Scale assesses social-emotional competence. We examined associations of Problem and Competence scores and positive screen rates with cranial ultrasonography and near-term MRI. Mean BITSEA and Bayley-III scores were compared using ANOVA and positive screen rates with the ?2 test. We computed correlations between BITSEA and Bayley-III scores. RESULTS:Of the 397 children, positive BITSEA screens were found in 34% for the Problem score and 26% for the Competence score. Presence of lesions on near-term MRI that included cerebellar lesions were significantly associated with lower BITSEA Competence but not with Problem scores; Competence scores were inversely related to the presence/significance of lesions. Positive screens on Competence scores and on both Competence and Problem scores were significantly associated with Bayley-III cognitive and language scores <85 (P?<?.001). CONCLUSIONS:Social-emotional competence contributes to deficits in cognitive and language development. Presence of injury on near-term MRI that includes cerebellar lesions is associated with later social-emotional competence and may be a useful predictor to guide early assessment and intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00063063 and NCT00233324.
| S-EPMC6394414 | biostudies-literature
Project description:It is widely believed that reading to preschool children promotes their language and literacy skills. Yet, whether early parent-child book reading is an index of generally rich linguistic input or a unique predictor of later outcomes remains unclear. To address this question, we asked whether naturally occurring parent-child book reading interactions between 1 and 2.5 years-of-age predict elementary school language and literacy outcomes, controlling for the quantity of other talk parents provide their children, family socioeconomic status, and children's own early language skill. We find that the quantity of parent-child book reading interactions predicts children's later receptive vocabulary, reading comprehension, and internal motivation to read (but not decoding, external motivation to read, or math skill), controlling for these other factors. Importantly, we also find that parent language that occurs during book reading interactions is more sophisticated than parent language outside book reading interactions in terms of vocabulary diversity and syntactic complexity.
| S-EPMC6927670 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPrevious studies showed that children exposed to paracetamol during fetal life might have an increased risk of neurodevelopmental problems. Since paracetamol is one of the most commonly used medications during pregnancy, even small increases in the risk of neurodevelopmental problems may have considerable implications for public health.MethodsUsing data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, we applied propensity score (PS) matching to examine associations between prenatal paracetamol exposure and neurodevelopmental problems among children at 18 months of age. Paracetamol use was classified into short-term (< 28 days) and long-term (? 28 days) of exposure.ResultsOf the 51?200 pregnancies included in our study, 40.5% of mothers ( n ?=?20?749) used paracetamol at least once during pregnancy. In the PS-matched analyses, long-term paracetamol exposure during pregnancy was associated with communication problems [odds ratio (OR): 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98-1.95) and delayed motor milestone attainment (OR: 1.35, 95% CI 1.07-1.70). We did not observe increased risks after short-term exposure. Sensitivity analyses for several indications showed similar effects as the PS-matched analyses, suggesting no confounding by indication.ConclusionLong-term exposure to paracetamol in utero was associated with modestly increased risks of motor milestone delay and impaired communication skills among children at 18 months. Caution is warranted when considering long-term use of paracetamol during pregnancy; however, women with severe pain conditions should not be deprived of appropriate pharmacotherapy.
| S-EPMC5841617 | biostudies-literature