Prevalence of Language Delay among Healthy Preterm Children, Language Outcomes and Predictive Factors

Lexical skills and gesture use: A comparison between expressive and receptive/expressive late talkers

BACKGROUND

Studies on late talkers (LTs) highlighted their heterogeneity and the relevance of describing different communicative profiles.

AIMS

To examine lexical skills and gesture use in expressive (E-LTs) vs. receptive-expressive (R/E-LTs) LTs through a structured task.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

Forty-six 30-month-old screened LTs were distinguished into E-LTs (n= 35) and R/E-LTs (n= 11) according to their receptive skills. Lexical skills and gesture use were assessed with a Picture Naming Game by coding answer accuracy (correct, incorrect, no response), modality of expression (spoken, spoken-gestural, gestural), type of gestures (deictic, representational), and spoken-gestural answers' semantic relationship (complementary, equivalent, supplementary).

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

R/E-LTs showed lower scores than E-LTs for noun and predicate comprehension with fewer correct answers, and production with fewer correct and incorrect answers, and more no responses. R/E-LTs also exhibited lower scores in spoken answers, representational gestures, and equivalent spoken-gestural answers for noun production and in all spoken and gestural answers for predicate production.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Findings highlighted more impaired receptive and expressive lexical skills and lower gesture use in R/E-LTs compared to E-LTs, underlying the relevance of assessing both lexical and gestural skills through a structured task, besides parental questionnaires and developmental scales, to describe LTs' communicative profiles.

Home Musical Activities Boost Premature Infants' Language Development

Infants born prematurely are considered at risk for language development delay and impairments. Using online parental reports, the present study investigated the influence of early musical experience in the home environment (Music@Home Infant Questionnaire) on language development (MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory) while controlling for general enrichment at home (Stim-Q Cognitive Home Environment Questionnaire) and perinatal post-traumatic stress disorder (Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire). Caregivers of 117 infants between 8 and 18 months of age (corrected age) without reported developmental difficulties completed an online survey. Results revealed that the musical home environment significantly predicted outcomes in reported infants' receptive vocabulary and gestural communication, independently from infants' corrected age and general enrichment of home activities. These findings constitute the first evidence that an enriched musical experience can enhance the development of early communication skills in a population at risk for language delays, namely infants born prematurely, opening the path for future intervention research in home and/or early childcare settings. Given that the majority of participants in this study were highly educated and from socioeconomically stable backgrounds, considerations regarding the generalizability of these results are discussed.

Relationship Between Speech Delay and Smart Media in Children: A Systematic Review

The increasing prevalence of smart media usage among children has raised concerns about its potential impact on various aspects of child development. One such area of worry is speech delay, as early language acquisition is critical for cognitive, social, and educational development. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate and synthesize available research data in order to determine the association between speech delay and the usage of smart media in children. To perform this systematic review, a thorough literature search was conducted using relevant keywords in electronic databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Embase. We included studies published during the last 10 years investigating the impact of smart media on children's speech delay using various research designs. The findings showed that extended exposure to electronic media for children was negatively associated with expressive vocabulary and language skills in children, in addition to decreased language scores and speech delays. Educational apps and shared media engagement with parents correlated with stronger language skills. The introduction of smart devices at a later stage of development (24 months of age and older) was associated with positive language development, whereas early introduction was associated with speech delay. However, six-month abstinence from devices led to speech improvement in the affected children. These findings highlight the need to balance interactive screen time and other forms of interaction to enhance speech development.

Communicative and linguistic factors influencing language development at 30 months of age in preterm and full-term children: a longitudinal study using the CDI

INTRODUCTION

Previous studies showed that very preterm children have a delay in communicative (gestures) and linguistic development as compared to full-term children. Earlier use of gestures, as well as of word comprehension and production, have been found to be predictive of subsequent word production and/or language delay in both very preterm and full-term children. Not many studies on communicative antecedents of language, however, have been carried out with low-risk preterm children in comparison to full-term children.

METHODS

In the present study a sample (N = 142) of low-risk preterm children has been followed using the Galician version of the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) at the ages of 10, 22, and 30 months of age and their results were compared to the results from a sample (N = 49) of full-term children at the same ages. The determinants of language measures (vocabulary and grammar) at 30 months of age have been studied through linear regression analyses.

RESULTS

ANOVA results indicate that there were no significant differences between the groups in any of the measures obtained with the CDI at any time, nor were there any differences in lexical or grammatical developmental trajectories between both groups (repeated measures ANOVA). Linear regression analyses showed that the predictors of language at 30 months of age are somewhat different for the full-term than for the preterm group.

DISCUSSION

While the use of first communicative gestures at 10 months is a predictor of word production at 30 months of age for the full-term group, participation in games and routines seems to play a significant predictive role for preterm children. Word production at 22 months is the factor with a major incidence on word production at the age of 30 months for both groups. Previous specific measures of grammatical development have a clear determinant role in grammar measures at 30 months of age for the full-term children, while in the case of preterm children previous lexical development seems to be more relevant.

Effect of biomedical complications on very and extremely preterm children's language

Introduction

Very and extremely preterm children have been found to show delays in the development of language in early years. In some investigations, however, a rigorous control of biomedical complications, such as Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL), Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) or Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), does not always exist. For that reason, a confounding effect of low gestational age and biomedical complications may lead to erroneous conclusions about the effect of gestational age.

Methods

In this investigation we compare language development [use of words, sentence complexity and mean length of the three longest utterances (MLU3)] of three groups of Chilean children at 24 months of age (corrected age for preterm children). The first group was composed of 42 healthy full-term children (Full term group: FT), the second group of 60 preterm children born below 32 gestational weeks without medical complications (low risk preterm group: LRPT), and the third group was composed of 64 children below 32 gestational weeks who had medical complications (High risk preterm group: HRPT). The three groups were similar in terms of gender distribution, maternal education, and socio-economic environment. The instrument used to assess language was the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI). In addition, the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 (ASQ-3) was also used to assess other developmental dimensions.

Results

The results indicate that HRPT and LRPT children obtained significantly lower results than the FT group in the three language measures obtained through the CDI. No significant differences were observed between the HRPT and the LRPT groups, although the HRPT obtained the lowest results in the three CDI measures. The results obtained through the administration of the ASQ-3 confirm the delay of both preterm groups in communicative development when compared to the FT group. No significant differences between the FT and the PT groups were observed in gross motor, fine motor and problem solving dimensions of the ASQ-3. The LRPT group obtained results that were significantly higher than those of the FT group and the HRPT group in gross motor development.

Discussion

These results seem to indicate that the area of language development is particularly influenced by very or extremely low gestational age.

Neurological Short-Term Outcomes of a Cohort of Children Born to Zika Virus-Infected Mothers in Barcelona

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a vector-borne flavivirus with a known teratogenic effect, yet the full spectrum has not been delineated. Studies on endemic areas tried to characterize the clinical outcomes of ZIKV intrauterine exposure. We aimed to describe early neurodevelopmental outcomes on prenatally ZIKV-exposed children in a non-endemic ZIKV area. This is a prospective observational cohort study conducted from May 2016 to December 2021 at Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. We monitored for up to 24 months 152 children extracted from a pregnant women cohort with suspected ZIKV infection; eleven women (11/150; 7.3%) fulfilled the criteria for a confirmed ZIKV infection. Among the 152 children included, we describe two cases of congenital ZIKV syndrome (CZS) born from women with a confirmed ZIKV infection. Additionally, we describe five cases of other potentially ZIKV-related outcomes (OPZROs), all with normal birth cranial circumference and born to women with probable ZIKV infection. The low exposed prevalence of adverse outcomes in asymptomatic children at birth in a non-endemic area suggests that close follow-up should be addressed by primary care pediatricians instead of pediatric specialists. Further studies are needed to assess the effects of ZIKV intrauterine exposure beyond two years of life.

Factors Associated with the Suspected Delay in the Language Development of Early Childhood in Southern Thailand

Many children have a suspected delay in language development and need extensive support from parents and the health care team. This study aimed to investigate the suspected delay in language development and the factors associated with the suspected delay in language development among early childhood in Southern Thailand. Children aged 24 to 60 months were recruited as study samples using stratified random sampling conducted in 23 districts and simple random sampling in 7 sections (425 children). The research instruments comprised demographic data on the children and families, the preschool temperament questionnaire, and the Language Development Screening questionnaire using the Developmental Surveillance and Promotion Manual and data collected from July 2020 to January 2021. Data analysis used descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The results showed that the suspected delay in development was 40.9 percent. Daily screen time exceeding 2 h per day (AOR = 17.30, 95% CI: 7.35–40.72), and regarding a child’s temperament, moderate-to-difficult temperament (AOR = 9.56, 95% CI: 5.12–17.85) was significantly associated with the suspected delay in language development. Genders, gestational age of early childhood, and the age of the caregivers were not associated with the suspected delay in language development. The study suggested that a decrease in daily screen time and appropriate responses will help develop language in children.