Concurrent associations between maternal behaviours and infant communication within a cohort of women and their infants experiencing adversity

Smith, Jodie; Levickis, Penny; Eadie, Patricia; Bretherton, Lesley; Conway, Laura; Goldfeld, Sharon

doi:10.1080/17549507.2017.1329458

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Perhaps parent-report measures capture more nuance in what the child is capable of across different and familiar contexts over a short follow-up period in a way that direct assessments do not. Imitations of early words and sounds (measured in the same way as in the current study) have likewise been predictive of concurrent and subsequent language in non-autistic infants (Smith et al, 2018a , 2018b ). Interestingly, however, McDuffie and Yoder ( 2010 ) found imitations of language were not uniquely predictive of spoken vocabulary (after controlling for child verbal utterances) in their sample of minimally verbal autistic children.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…have yielded more consistent findings than those that have relied on composite measures. For example, an association between parent use of both responsive imitations (i.e., Child: “Car”; Adult: “Car”) and expansions (i.e., Child: “Car”; Adult: “Red car”), and concurrent and subsequent child language is now accepted as fairly robust (Levickis et al, 2014 ; Smith et al, 2018a , 2018b ; Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2001 ). In the context of early childhood autism, however, few studies have taken such a nuanced view of parent responsiveness and none have compared the relative predictive value of overall and discrete parent responsiveness; yet, gathering a more nuanced, fine-tuned understanding of adult responsiveness during interactions with young autistic children may be especially important here.…”

Section: Discrete Responsive Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parental Imitations and Expansions of Child Language Predict Later Language Outcomes of Autistic Preschoolers

Smith

Sulek

Wert

et al. 2022

J Autism Dev Disord

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Both the amount and responsiveness of adult language input contribute to the language development of autistic and non-autistic children. From parent–child interaction footage, we measured the amount of adult language input, overall parent responsiveness, and six discrete parent responsive behaviours (imitations, expansions, open-ended questions, yes/no questions, comments and acknowledgements) to explore which types of responsiveness predicted autistic preschoolers’ language five months later, after controlling for adult language input. We found expansions and particularly imitations to be more important for later language than overall responsiveness. This study emphasises the need to capture what exactly about parent language input influences child language acquisition, and adds to the evidence that imitating and expanding early language might be particularly beneficial for autistic preschoolers.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Discrete Responsive Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Imitations and Expansions of Child Language Predict Later Language Outcomes of Autistic Preschoolers

Smith

Sulek

Wert

et al. 2022

J Autism Dev Disord

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“…See Smith et al (2017) for more information about 12-month communicative behaviours. Significant associations were investigated using linear regression models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As maternal behaviours do not occur in isolation, six child communicative behaviours were coded from the 12-month videos and controlled for in the analysis (vocalizations, words, looks to mother's face, pointing, pretend play and showing/giving mother an object). See Smith et al (2017) for more information about 12-month communicative behaviours. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the effect of including/excluding women who spoke a main language other than English at baseline in regression models; no significant differences were found so data is presented for the whole sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between early maternal behaviours and child language at 36 months in a cohort experiencing adversity

Smith

Levickis

Eadie

et al. 2018

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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Background Variations in parenting, more specifically less responsive and more directive parenting, contribute to language difficulties for children experiencing adversity. Further investigation of associations between specific responsive and directive behaviours and child language is required to understand how behaviours shape language over time within different populations. As language is dyadic, further exploration of how mother–child interactions moderate associations is also important. Aims To investigate associations between specific responsive and directive maternal behaviours, the quality of mother–child interaction (fluency and connectedness) and child language in a cohort experiencing adversity. Methods & Procedures Pregnant women experiencing adversity were recruited from maternity hospitals in Australia. At 12 months, videos of mother–infant free play were collected. Videos were coded for maternal behaviours and fluency and connectedness (n = 249). At 36 months, child language was measured using a standardized language test. Linear regression models were used to examine associations and the moderating role of fluency and connectedness was explored. Outcomes & Results Responsive yes/no questions were positively associated with language scores. Unsuccessful redirectives were negatively associated with language scores. The moderation effect of fluency and connectedness was equivocal in the current data. Conclusions & Implications Findings reproduce and extend previous research highlighting key features of mother–child interactions associated with child language trajectories. Findings also augment knowledge of risk and protective factors related to language for children experiencing adversity and highlight where targeted interventions might be successful.

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“…Positive caregiver-child verbal interactions reduce the risks presented by less complex and less diverse language input on three-and four-year-olds' receptive and expressive language (Vernon-Feagans, Bratsch-Hines & The Family Life Project Key Investigators, 2013). Frequent verbal imitations by mothers within highly connected mother-infant pairs mediated the impact of adversity on early communication skills (Smith et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Caregiver sensitivity supported young children’s vocabulary development during the Covid-19 UK lockdowns

et al. 2023

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Previous studies have shown that caregivers’ sensitive, responsive interactions with young children can boost language development. We explored the association between caregivers’ sensitivity and the vocabulary development of their 8-to-36-month-olds during COVID-19 when family routines were unexpectedly disrupted. Measuring caregivers’ sensitivity from home interaction videos at three timepoints, we found that children who experienced more-sensitive concurrent interactions had higher receptive and expressive vocabularies (N=100). Children whose caregivers showed more-sensitive interactions at the beginning of the pandemic showed greater expressive vocabulary growth six (but not 12) months later (n=58). Significant associations with receptive vocabulary growth were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of sensitivity at a time when other positive influences on language development were compromised.

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Concurrent associations between maternal behaviours and infant communication within a cohort of women and their infants experiencing adversity

Cited by 9 publications

References 55 publications

Parental Imitations and Expansions of Child Language Predict Later Language Outcomes of Autistic Preschoolers

Parental Imitations and Expansions of Child Language Predict Later Language Outcomes of Autistic Preschoolers

Associations between early maternal behaviours and child language at 36 months in a cohort experiencing adversity

Caregiver sensitivity supported young children’s vocabulary development during the Covid-19 UK lockdowns

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