Behavioral problems of Mandarin-speaking late-talking toddlers and preschool aged children: A prospective case-control study in Taiwan

Sensitivity to Semantic Relationships in U.S. Monolingual English-Speaking Typical Talkers and Late Talkers

PURPOSE

Late talkers (LTs) are a group of children who exhibit delays in language development without a known cause. Although a hallmark of LTs is a reduced expressive vocabulary, little is known about LTs' processing of semantic relations among words in their emerging vocabularies. This study uses an eye-tracking task to compare 2-year-old LTs' and typical talkers' (TTs') sensitivity to semantic relationships among early acquired words.

METHOD

U.S. monolingual English-speaking LTs (n = 21) and TTs (n = 24) completed a looking-while-listening task in which they viewed two images on a screen (e.g., a shirt and a pizza), while they heard words that referred to one of the images (e.g., Look! Shirt!; target-present condition) or a semantically related item (e.g., Look! Hat!; target-absent condition). Children's eye movements (i.e., looks to the target) were monitored to assess their sensitivity to these semantic relationships.

RESULTS

Both LTs and TTs looked longer at the semantically related image than the unrelated image on target-absent trials, demonstrating sensitivity to the taxonomic relationships used in the experiment. There was no significant group difference between LTs and TTs. Both groups also looked more to the target in the target-present condition than in the target-absent condition.

CONCLUSIONS

These results reveal that, despite possessing smaller expressive vocabularies, LTs have encoded semantic relationships in their receptive vocabularies and activate these during real-time language comprehension. This study furthers our understanding of LTs' emerging linguistic systems and language processing skills.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23303987.

Specificity of phonological representations in U.S. English-speaking late talkers and typical talkers

Late talkers are a heterogeneous group of children who experience delayed language development in the absence of other known causes. Late talkers show delays in expressive phonological development, but less is known about their receptive phonological development. In the current study, U.S. monolingual English-speaking typical talkers (TTs) (n = 23, mean age = 26.27 months, 57% male; 78.3% White) and late talkers (n = 22, mean age = 24.57 months, 59% male, 72.7% White) completed a Looking-While-Listening task to assess their sensitivity to mispronunciations. Results revealed that late talkers and TTs looked to the referent of a word for a shorter duration when it was mispronounced than when it was correctly pronounced, suggesting they were sensitive to mispronunciations. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in their sensitivity to mispronunciations.

Developmental Milestones of Infancy and Associations with Later Childhood Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study

The age at attaining infancy developmental milestones has been associated with later neurodevelopmental outcomes, but evidence from large and diverse samples is lacking. We investigated this by analyzing data of 5360 singleton children aged 9-10 from 17 states in the US enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study during 2016-2020. Delays in four milestones (first roll over, unaided sitting, unaided walking, and speaking first words) were defined using the 90th percentile of age at attainment reported by children's biological mothers. Childhood neurocognitive function was measured by research assistants using the NIH toolbox, and children reported their behavioral problems using the Brief Problem Monitor. Linear mixed-effects models were employed to investigate the association between delays in single or multiple milestones and childhood neurobehavioral outcomes. Delays in first roll over, unaided sitting, or walking were associated with poorer childhood neurocognitive function, while delay in speaking first words was associated with both poorer neurocognitive function and behavioral problems. Children who had delays in both motor and language milestones had the worst neurocognitive function and behavioral outcomes. Our results suggest that delays in motor and language milestone attainment during infancy are predictive of childhood neurobehavioral outcomes.

Temporal stability of parent-reported behavior problems in late talkers over 2 years: a prospective case-control study from toddlerhood to preschool age

Background

Late talking (LT) in toddlers is a risk factor for language weakness that may interfere with the development of using language to regulate behavior and emotion and contribute to the development of behavior problems from early childhood. This study examined the temporal stability of parent-reported behavior problems among Mandarin-speaking LT toddlers from ages 2 to 4 in Taiwan.

Methods

Thirty-one LT and 31 typical language development (TLD) toddlers were assessed for their vocabulary production at age 2 with the Words and Sentences Forms of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories Toddler Form (Taiwan version). Additionally, participants’ receptive and expressive language abilities were assessed using the receptive and expressive language subscales of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. At age 4, the Child Language Disorder Scale-Revised was applied and included the two core subtests for auditory comprehension and expressive communication. At ages 2 and 4 years, behavior problems were assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist.

Results

There was a higher percentage of participants with persistent behavior problems among LT toddlers than among TLD toddlers. Moreover, toddlers with larger vocabularies were less likely to develop withdrawal behaviors by preschool age.

Conclusions

This study supported the temporal stability of parent-reported behavior problems among LT toddlers across early childhood. Early identification of and intervention for behavior problems associated with LT in toddlerhood is essential to alleviate their behavior problems later in preschool years.