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Persici V, Castelletti G, Guerzoni L, Cuda D, Majorano M. The role of lexical and prosodic characteristics of mothers' child-directed speech for the early vocabulary development of Italian children with cochlear implants. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2024. [PMID: 38978277 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.13087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Variability in the vocabulary outcomes of children with cochlear implants (CIs) is partially explained by child-directed speech (CDS) characteristics. Yet, relatively little is known about whether and how mothers adapt their lexical and prosodic characteristics to the child's hearing status (before and after implantation, and compared with groups with normal hearing (NH)) and how important they are in affecting vocabulary development in the first 12 months of hearing experience. AIMS To investigate whether mothers of children with CIs produce CDS with similar lexical and prosodic characteristics compared with mothers of age-matched children with NH, and whether they modify these characteristics after implantation. In addition, to investigate whether mothers' CDS characteristics predict children's early vocabulary skills before and after implantation. METHODS & PROCEDURES A total of 34 dyads (17 with NH, 17 with children with CIs; ages = 9-32 months), all acquiring Italian, were involved in the study. Mothers' and children's lexical quantity (tokens) and variety (types), mothers' prosodic characteristics (pitch range and variability), and children's vocabulary skills were assessed at two time points, corresponding to before and 1 year post-CI activation for children with CIs. Children's vocabulary skills were assessed using parent reports; lexical and prosodic characteristics were observed in semi-structured mother-child interactions. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Results showed that mothers of children with CIs produced speech with similar lexical quantity but lower lexical variety, and with increased pitch range and variability, than mothers of children with NH. Mothers generally increased their lexical quantity and variety and their pitch range between sessions. Children with CIs showed reduced expressive vocabulary and lower lexical quantity and variety than their peers 12 months post-CI activation. Mothers' prosodic characteristics did not explain variance in children's vocabulary skills; their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary and lexical outcomes, especially in the NH group, but were not related to later language development. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS Our findings confirm previous studies on other languages and support the idea that the lexical characteristics of mothers' CDS have a positive effect on children's early measures of vocabulary development across hearing groups, whereas prosodic cues play a minor role. Greater input quantity and quality may assist children in the building of basic language model representations, whereas pitch cues may mainly serve attentional and emotional processes. Results emphasize the need for additional longitudinal studies investigating the input received from other figures surrounding the child and its role for children's language development. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on the subject Mothers' CDS is thought to facilitate and support language acquisition in children with various language developmental trajectories, including children with CIs. Because children with CIs are at risk for language delays and have acoustic processing limitations, their mothers may have to produce a lexically simpler but prosodically richer input, compared to mothers of children with NH. Yet, the literature reports mixed findings and no study to our knowledge has concurrently addressed the role of mothers' lexical and prosodic characteristics for children's vocabulary development before implantation and in the first 12 months of hearing experience. What this study adds to the existing knowledge The study shows that mothers of children with CIs produce input of similar quantity but reduced variety, and with heightened pitch characteristics, compared to mothers of children with NH. There was also a general increase in mothers' lexical quantity and variety, and in their pitch range, between sessions. Only their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary skills. Their lexical variety predicted children's expressive vocabulary and lexical variety only in the NH group. What are the practical and clinical implications of this work? These findings expand our knowledge about the effects of maternal input and may contribute to the improvement of early family-centred intervention programmes for supporting language development in children with CIs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Persici
- Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
- Department of Humanities, University of Urbino 'Carlo Bo', Urbino, Italy
| | | | - Letizia Guerzoni
- Otorhinolaryngology Unit, 'Guglielmo da Saliceto' Hospital, Piacenza, Italy
| | - Domenico Cuda
- Otorhinolaryngology Unit, 'Guglielmo da Saliceto' Hospital, Piacenza, Italy
- University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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Ataman-Devrim M, Quigley J, Nixon E. Preterm toddlers' joint attention characteristics during dyadic interactions with their mothers and fathers compared to full-term toddlers at age 2 years. Infant Behav Dev 2024; 74:101915. [PMID: 38159501 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
The current study investigates Joint Attention (JA) characteristics (duration, frequency, source of initiation, type of JA, agent of termination, missed and unsuccessful episodes) in preterm and full-term toddlers' interactions with their mothers and fathers, separately. Thirty-one singleton full-term (Mage = 24.07 months, SD = 1.45; 13 boys) and 17 singleton preterm toddlers (Madjustedage = 24.72 months, SD = 3.39; 12 boys) participated in the study with both parents. JA episodes were examined during dyadic five-minute free play sessions, were coded second-by-second, and were analysed using two-way mixed ANOVAs. Although the total amount of time spent in JA was not significantly different between the preterm and the full-term groups, JA episodes were more frequent, specifically supported JA episodes, and were more often terminated by the child during parent-preterm toddler interactions. Moreover, preterm toddlers missed their fathers' attempts for JA more often than their mothers' and more often than full-term toddlers missed their fathers' and mothers' bids for JA. Further, regardless of the birth status, toddlers initiated more JA with mothers than fathers, and fathers redirected their child's attention to initiate JA more than mothers. Findings indicate that preterm toddlers may struggle to respond to JA bids, especially with their fathers, and to sustain their attention on a specific object or event during interactions. Preterm toddlers may need more support to engage in JA relative to their full-term peers, and redirecting attention strategy may not be optimal for them. Also, toddlers' JA interactions may be different with their mothers and fathers. Findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating preterm toddlers' JA characteristics with both parents compared to full-term toddlers at age two.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jean Quigley
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
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Clarke A, Rose TA, Meredith PJ. Language skills and interpersonal trust in adolescents with and without mental illness. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2023; 25:589-607. [PMID: 35614858 DOI: 10.1080/17549507.2022.2075466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The primary aim was to compare adolescents with mental illness and non-clinical adolescents on vocabulary, social problem-solving, trust in parents, attachment and mentalisation. A secondary aim was to investigate whether adolescents' language skills were associated with trust in parents. METHOD Seventy-eight adolescents (16-18 years) participated in this cross-sectional quantitative study: a clinical sample (n = 28, M = 16.7 years, 19F) recruited from a mental health service and a non-clinical sample (n = 50, M = 17.0 years, 28F). Standardised language measures and self-report measures of trust in parents; communication quality; attachment; and mentalisation were used. Primary and secondary aims were addressed through independent samples t-tests and Pearson's correlation analyses, respectively. RESULT Adolescents experiencing mental illness reported significantly poorer vocabulary, less trust in mother/father, greater attachment anxiety/avoidance, and poorer reflective functioning, than non-clinical adolescents. Expressive vocabulary of clinical (but not non-clinical) adolescents significantly negatively correlated with trust in mother (but not father). CONCLUSION Results highlight a role for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in supporting communication needs of adolescents with mental illness. SLPs should consider trust by: i) understanding adolescents with mental illness may have difficulty trusting them potentially impacting therapeutic engagement; and ii) delivering services in ways that might build trust, such as involving adolescents in treatment planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Clarke
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
- Assertive Mobile Youth Outreach Service, Child and Youth Mental Health Services, Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Tanya A Rose
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Pamela J Meredith
- School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia
- School of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Australia
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Fusaroli R, Weed E, Rocca R, Fein D, Naigles L. Caregiver linguistic alignment to autistic and typically developing children: A natural language processing approach illuminates the interactive components of language development. Cognition 2023; 236:105422. [PMID: 36871399 PMCID: PMC11223773 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Language development is a highly interactive activity. However, most research on linguistic environment has focused on the quantity and complexity of linguistic input to children, with current models showing that complexity facilitates language in both typically developing (TD) and autistic children. AIMS After reviewing existing work on caregiver engagement of children's utterances, we aim to operationalize such engagement with automated measures of linguistic alignment, thereby providing scalable tools to assess caregivers' active reuse of their children's language. By assessing the presence of alignment, its sensitivity to the child's individual differences and how well it predicts language development beyond current models across the two groups, we showcase the usefulness of the approach and provide initial empirical foundations for further conceptual and empirical investigations. METHODS We measure lexical, syntactic and semantic types of caregiver alignment in a longitudinal corpus involving 32 adult-autistic child and 35 adult-TD child dyads, with children between 2 and 5 years of age. We assess the extent to which caregivers repeat their children's words, syntax, and semantics, and whether these repetitions predict language development beyond more standard predictors. RESULTS Caregivers tend to re-use their child's language in a way that is related to the child's individual, primarily linguistic, differences. Caregivers' alignment provides unique information improving our ability to predict future language development in both typical and autistic children. CONCLUSIONS We provide evidence that language development also relies on interactive conversational processes, previously understudied. We share carefully detailed methods, and open-source scripts so as to systematically extend our approach to new contexts and languages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market St, Suite 810, Philadelphia, PA 19104-2653, USA.
| | - Ethan Weed
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Roberta Rocca
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 2, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Jens Chr Skous vej 4, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Deborah Fein
- Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA
| | - Letitia Naigles
- Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 0629-1020, USA
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Ataman-Devrim M, Nixon E, Quigley J. Joint attention episodes during interactions with fathers but not mothers at age 2 years is associated with expressive language at 3 years. J Exp Child Psychol 2023; 226:105569. [PMID: 36332436 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2022.105569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Joint Attention (JA) in parent-infant interaction has been demonstrated to contribute to infants' language outcomes. A limited number of studies have investigated the characteristics of JA episodes during parent-toddler interaction in relation to toddlers' language development. The majority of these studies were conducted with mothers, whereas JA with fathers remains understudied. The current study investigated JA episodes during interactions with mothers and fathers separately as well as longitudinal associations with child language outcomes. A total of 31 toddlers (18 girls) and their mothers and fathers participated in the study at ages 2 years (M = 24.07 months, SD = 1.45) and 3 years (M = 37.44 months, SD = 1.72). JA episodes were observed during free play interactions at age 2 and were coded microanalytically; receptive and expressive language skills were assessed by Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition at ages 2 and 3. No significant differences in JA episodes were found between mother-toddler and father-toddler dyads. Whereas JA characteristics with mothers were not found to be significantly associated with toddlers' language outcomes, multiple linear regression analyses showed that paternal education and parent-followed JA episodes during father-toddler interaction at age 2 explained a significant amount of variance in toddlers' expressive language skills at age 3. Findings suggest that JA episodes during interactions with fathers might benefit toddlers' expressive language development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Elizabeth Nixon
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Jean Quigley
- School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Shapiro NT, Hippe DS, Ramírez NF. How Chatty Are Daddies? An Exploratory Study of Infants' Language Environments. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2021; 64:3242-3252. [PMID: 34324822 DOI: 10.1044/2021_jslhr-20-00727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Fathers play a critical but underresearched role in their children's cognitive and linguistic development. Focusing on two-parent families with a mother and a father, the present longitudinal study explores the amount of paternal input infants hear during the first 2 years of life, how this input changes over time, and how it relates to child volubility. We devote special attention to parentese, a near-universal style of infant-directed speech, distinguished by its higher pitch, slower tempo, and exaggerated intonation. Method We examined the daylong recordings of the same 23 infants at ages 6, 10, 14, 18, and 24 months, given English-speaking families. The infants were recorded in the presence of their parents (mother-father dyads), who were predominantly White and ranged from mid to high socioeconomic status (SES). We analyzed the effects of parent gender and child age on adult word counts and parentese, as well as the effects of maternal and paternal word counts and parentese on child vocalizations. Results On average, the infants were exposed to 46.8% fewer words and 51.9% less parentese from fathers than from mothers, even though paternal parentese grew at a 2.8-times faster rate as the infants aged. An asymmetry emerged where maternal word counts and paternal parentese predicted child vocalizations, but paternal word counts and maternal parentese did not. Conclusions While infants may hear less input from their fathers than their mothers in predominantly White, mid-to-high SES, English-speaking households, paternal parentese still plays a unique role in their linguistic development. Future research on sources of variability in child language outcomes should thus control for parental differences since parents' language can differ substantially and differentially predict child language.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel S Hippe
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle
| | - Naja Ferjan Ramírez
- Department of Linguistics, University of Washington, Seattle
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle
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