Purpose Parenting stress has been studied as a potential predictor of developmental outcomes in children with normal hearing and children who are deaf and hard of hearing. However, it is unclear how parenting stress might underlie at-risk spoken language and neurocognitive outcomes in this clinical pediatric population. We investigated parenting stress levels and the shared relations between parenting stress, language comprehension, and inhibitory control skills in children with and without hearing loss (HL) using a cross-sectional design. Method Families of children with HL ( n = 39) and with normal hearing ( n = 41) were tested. Children completed an age-appropriate version of the Concepts & Following Directions subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and the NIH Toolbox Flanker Test of Attention and Inhibitory control. Caregivers completed the Parenting Stress Index–Short Form 4. Results Parenting stress levels were not significantly different between parents of children with and without HL. A significant negative association was observed between parenting stress and our measure of language comprehension in children with HL. A negative association between parenting stress and inhibitory control skills was also found in families of children with HL, but not hearing children. The parenting stress–inhibitory control relationship was indirectly accounted for by delayed language comprehension skills in children with HL. Conclusion Even at moderate levels of parenting stress similar to parents of children with normal hearing, increases in parenting stress were associated with lower scores on our measures of language comprehension and inhibitory control in children with HL. Thus, parenting stress may underlie some of the variability in at-risk pediatric HL outcomes.

Although many researchers appeal to performance limitations to account for children’s non-adult-like use of language, few studies have explicitly linked specific cognitive abilities to specific dimensions of language. This study investigated a well-studied underextension in children’s language involving linguistic aspect and tested participants in an aspectual comprehension task as well as a series of assessments evaluating neurocognitive and linguistic skills. Adults (N = 32) and 5-year-old children (N = 32) participated. The results for the children replicated the classic pattern of underextension, with children showing an uneven pattern of success even though all items were equally grammatical. In addition, children’s skill with items that involved overriding lexical information in favor of morphological information was predicted by their performance on an inhibitory control task while children’s skill with items that involved integrating contextual world knowledge was predicted by their performance on a receptive vocabulary task. These results demonstrate how specific dimensions of linguistic processing are supported differentially and sensibly by specific dimensions of cognition.

Purpose: Responsive and dynamic aspects of father–child play are associated with behavioral and neurocognitive development in children and could represent an important contributor to executive function (EF) skills for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). This study examined associations between paternal behaviors during play and EF skills of DHH children and children with typical hearing (TH). Method: Father–child dyads in families with DHH children ( n = 30) and TH children ( n = 29) participated in a 15-min video-recorded free-play session that was coded for parental behaviors using Parent–Child Interaction Rating Scales and Rough and Tumble Play Quality. Families also completed an age-appropriate version of the Behavior Rating Index of Executive Function as a measure of child EF. Results: DHH children were rated as having significantly more everyday difficulties with working memory than TH children. Fathers of DHH children were rated as more intrusive during play than fathers of TH children; however, there were no other differences between paternal groups on coded dimensions of father child play. Paternal respect for child autonomy was associated with fewer child difficulties with planning and organization skills and paternal play engagement was associated with fewer child EF difficulties. Moderation analyses revealed that paternal sensitivity was associated with more working memory difficulties and paternal respect for child autonomy was associated with fewer working memory difficulties for DHH children only. Conclusions: Paternal play could be an important environmental context for DHH outcomes. Fathers supporting independent play might generally support EF. Paternal engagement in play might also benefit EF. Results highlight paternal behavioral attributes that could lead to potential father-embedded intervention models.

Purpose Using a new measure of family-level executive functioning (EF; the Family Characteristics Scale [FCS]), we investigated associations between family-level EF, spoken language, and neurocognitive skills in children with hearing loss (HL), compared to children with normal hearing. Method Parents of children with HL ( n = 61) or children with normal hearing ( n = 65) completed the FCS-Parent, and clinicians evaluated families using the FCS-Examiner. Children completed an age-appropriate version of the Concepts and Following Directions subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition. Child EF was assessed via the parent report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function. Results Two higher order components were derived from FCS subscales: Family Inhibition and Family Organization. For both samples, Family Inhibition was positively associated with child inhibition, child shifting, and child language comprehension skills. Family Organization was differentially associated with child inhibition, working memory, and planning/organization skills across the samples. Additionally, Family Inhibition was associated with child planning and organization skills for children with HL. Conclusions Results support the FCS as a measure of family-level EF. Family-level inhibition related to better child inhibition, flexibility/shifting, and language comprehension across both samples and to better planning and organization skills in children with HL. As children with HL experienced greater difficulties in EF, families demonstrated greater organization, possibly as a compensatory measure. Results suggest that inhibition and organization at a family level may be important targets for the development of novel interventions to promote EF and language outcomes for children with HL.

Objectives: To examine the interaction between child temperament and caregiver linguistic input (i.e., syntactic complexity and lexical diversity) on receptive language in children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Design: Families of 59 DHH children (M age = 5.66 years) using spoken language for communication participated in this cross-sectional study. Caregivers completed the Child Behavior Questionnaire—Short Form, which measured child temperament across three established factors (i.e., effortful control, negative affectivity, surgency-extraversion) and participated with their child in a semi-structured, dyadic play interaction that occurred during a home visit. Caregivers’ language during the play interaction was quantified based on lexical diversity and syntactic complexity. Children also completed norm-referenced receptive language measures (i.e., Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language-2, age-appropriate Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals) during the home visit that were combined into a composite measure of child receptive language. Results: When caregivers used lower to moderate levels of lexical diversity, child effortful control was positively related to child receptive language. However, when caregivers used higher levels of lexical diversity, child effortful control and child receptive language were not related to each other. Conclusions: Family environments rich in caregiver lexical input to children might provide a protective influence on DHH child language outcomes by helping to ensure DHH children with varying self-regulatory abilities achieve better spoken language comprehension. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging caregivers to provide rich and stimulating language-learning environments for DHH children.