Early vocabulary development: Relationships with prelinguistic skills and early social-emotional/behavioral problems and competencies

Rantalainen, Katariina; Paavola-Ruotsalainen, Leila; Alakortes, Jaana; Carter, Alice S.; Kunnari, Sari

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101525

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Our pilot study showed that a primary care-based intervention using finger puppets to promote caregiver-infant interactions was associated with improved social-emotional developmental trajectories in the first three years of life when delivered in early infancy (2 months) compared to later infancy (6 or 12 months). A central aspect of social-emotional development is language, with prelinguistic skills, vocabulary development, and social-emotional competencies being interrelated [ 27 , 28 ]. Our intervention stimulates relational health highlighted by talking and the encouragement of early language.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire to assess later effects of an infant intervention promoting language in primary care

et al. 2023

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Background Positive relational experiences during infancy have a profound impact on child development and are critical for future health and school readiness. We have been evaluating a simple finger puppet intervention that takes one minute and costs $1USD to deliver in the primary care setting to promote caregiver-infant interactions. We explored using developmental trajectories to determine later outcomes of our early intervention program by comparing trajectories to age 36 months to assess optimal intervention timing when delivered in early versus late infancy. Methods Three cohorts were enrolled and given a puppet at 2 months (early intervention) and 6 or 12 months (late intervention). Child development was assessed using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-3), which were independently collected during well visits. Scanned ASQ-3 forms from 2 to 36 months were obtained retrospectively through the electronic medical record. To compare longitudinal scores at different ages, all raw scores were first converted to z-scores. Longitudinal mixed effects models examined the trajectories of participant ASQ-3 scores over time by comparing the average intercepts and slopes. Results Of 180 children enrolled, 172 (96%) completed 2 or more ASQ-3 questionnaires and were included in the analysis, with a mean of 4.9 and a total of 843 questionnaires. Most children (85%) were on government-sponsored insurance. There were no statistical differences comparing cohort intercepts, while early intervention had a significant difference in slope compared to late intervention for the Personal-Social domain (0.12, p=0.018), resulting in higher predicted scores at 36 months. Early compared to late intervention had a difference in slope approaching significance for Communication (0.14, p=0.056) and the combined non-motor score (0.33, p=0.052). There were no significant differences in slope for Problem Solving (0.05, p=0.48), Gross Motor (-0.009, p=0.84), Fine Motor (0.06, p=0.22), and total ASQ-3 (0.32, p=0.17) scores. Conclusions Finger puppets may provide a simple and scalable way to encourage responsive caregiver-infant interactions promoting language and social-emotional development, especially when provided in early versus late infancy. Our trajectory analysis also demonstrates a useful and potentially cost-effective approach to evaluating long-term developmental outcomes of an early intervention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire to assess later effects of an infant intervention promoting language in primary care

et al. 2023

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“…Thus communication and social-emotional skills are closely connected, there is even recent evidence that communicative skills predict social-emotional skills34, and the latter, therefore, together with pre-linguistic skills, is related to children's vocabulary development. [35][36][37] In Table 20, Personal Social development is also related to problem solving and in both, the mean score of mothers who are suggestive of DMB is higher than the mean score of mothers who are suggestive of DMI. In Problem Resolution, in Table 21, the score showed a significant relationship with the Rejection and pathological anger attachment disorder.…”

Section: Family Incomementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Maternal Depression on Child Language Development

Gonçalves¹,

Cardilli-Dias²,

Molini-Avejonas³

2023

JHS

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“…Knowing more words in early childhood facilitates further vocabulary and language development, a virtuous cycle ( Peter et al, 2020 ; Avila-Varela et al, 2021 ). Children with more vocabulary knowledge have, both immediately and over time, greater success in reading and other content areas ( Dickinson et al, 2010 ; Cristofaro and Tamis-LeMonda, 2012 ; Morgan et al, 2015 ), better-adjusted social interactions, and more self-regulation and executive functioning ( Winsler, 2009 ; Manning et al, 2019 ; Rantalainen et al, 2021 ). Unfortunately, growing up in poverty is, as early as 18 months of age, associated with less knowledge of vocabulary and slower language processing ( Fernald et al, 2013 ; Suggate et al, 2018 ), making a focus on these children’s early experiences a priority.…”

Section: Vocabulary Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Child-Directed Speech Around Book Reading in Toddler Classrooms: Evidence From Early Head Start Programs

et al. 2021

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Child-directed speech (CDS), which can help children learn new words, has been rigorously studied among infants and parents in home settings. Yet, far less is known about the CDS that teachers use in classrooms with toddlers and children’s responses, an important question because many toddlers, particularly in high-need communities, attend group-care settings. This exploratory study examines the linguistic environment during teacher-led book readings in American Early Head Start classrooms serving 2-year-olds from households in poverty. Seven teachers in four classrooms were trained to emphasize target words while reading story and informational books. We first analyzed the nature and quality of their book readings from a macro-level, exploring global instructional quality [Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS)] and linguistic complexity [i.e., diversity of vocabulary (D) and sophistication of syntax (MLU-w)], and we also examined micro-level teacher-child talk strategies and use of target words. Compared to prior research, these classrooms had similar global quality and syntactic complexity, although less lexical diversity. Exploratory results also revealed three distinct teacher talk patterns—teachers who emphasized (1) comments, (2) questions, and (3) a balance of the two. Question-focused teachers had more adult and child talk during reading, as well as more repetitions of target words, and stronger CLASS Engaged Support for Learning. However, comment-focused teachers used more diverse vocabulary and had stronger CLASS Emotional and Behavioral Support. Results illuminate the nature and quality of CDS in toddler classrooms, particularly in the context of an intervention emphasizing target vocabulary words, and highlight applications for professional development and questions for further research.

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Early vocabulary development: Relationships with prelinguistic skills and early social-emotional/behavioral problems and competencies

Cited by 9 publications

References 84 publications

Using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire to assess later effects of an infant intervention promoting language in primary care

Using the Ages & Stages Questionnaire to assess later effects of an infant intervention promoting language in primary care

Effects of Maternal Depression on Child Language Development

Understanding Child-Directed Speech Around Book Reading in Toddler Classrooms: Evidence From Early Head Start Programs

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