Maternal Responsiveness and Children's Achievement of Language Milestones

Abstract

This prospective longitudinal study examined the contribution of dimensions of maternal responsiveness (descriptions, play, imitations) to the timing of five milestones in children's (N = 40) early expressive language: first imitations, first words, 50 words in expressive language, combinatorial speech, and the use of language to talk about the past. Events-History Analysis, a statistical technique that estimates the extent to which predictors influence the timing of events, was used. At 9 and 13 months, maternal responsiveness and children's activities (e.g., vocalizations, play) were coded from videotaped interactions of mother-child free play; information about children's language acquisition was obtained through biweekly interviews with mothers from 9 through 21 months. Maternal responsiveness at both ages predicted the timing of children's achieving language milestones over and above children's observed behaviors. Responsiveness at 13 months was a stronger predictor of the timing of language milestones than was responsiveness at 9 months, and certain dimensions of responsiveness were more predictive than others. The multidimensional nature of maternal responsiveness and specificity in mother-child language relations are discussed.

Responsive parenting: Establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills.

“…It may be that behaviors typically examined in relation to secure attachment and/or social skills also are important for children's concept development and language skills because they provide support for children's efforts through positive affect and warmth. An observational study that did examine responsiveness from an interface of these two frameworks found that emotional support and verbal input played a role in understanding language development (Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001).…”

Preschool language development among children of adolescent mothers

“…Parenting practices that are conducive to language development include maternal responsiveness (Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001), nondirective parenting style (Murray & Hornbaker, 1997), stimulating home environments (Morisset et al, 1995), stimulating maternal speech (Hart & Risley, 1995;Hoff-Ginsberg, 1990), and maternal verbal responsiveness (Baumwell, Tamis-LeMonda, & Bornstein, 1997). Many of these practices vary by age of mother (Barratt & Roach, 1995;Keown, Woodward, & Field, 2001) and by socioeconomic class (Dollaghan et al, 1999;Hart & Risley, 1995).…”

Interações iniciais entre pais, mães e bebês de 0 a 3 anos: Revisão de literatura

“…O trabalho de Bowlby, fundamentado em observação natural do comportamento da criança, consolidou a Teoria do Apego (Bowlby, 1969(Bowlby, /1990, com posterior colaboração da norte-americana Mary Ainsworth (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). Essa formulação ofereceu parâme-tros para observação das respostas afetivas entre mães e bebês, ampliando pesquisas sobre o desenvolvimento afetivo, cognitivo e social da criança (Eshel, Daelmans, Mello, & Martines, 2006;Tamis-LeMonda, Bornstein, & Baumwell, 2001;Tamis-LeMonda, Kuchirko, & Song, 2014). Estudar as relações entre adultos e bebês, desde momentos muito precoces, possibilita compreender o impacto dessas interações no desenvolvimento global da criança, dado reconhecido em pesquisas clássicas internacionais (Ainsworth, 1989;Keller, 2014;Waters & Cummings, 2000) e nacionais .…”