Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T15:30:50.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

14 - The Dynamic Nature of Predictors and Outcomes in Children’s Language Development over Childhood

from Part Two - Continuity and Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

By
Elizabeth Westrupp ,
Maggie Yu ,
Jan Nicholson  and
Donna Berthelsen
Edited by
James Law ,
Sheena Reilly  and
Cristina McKean
James Law
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Sheena Reilly
Affiliation:
Griffith University, Queensland
Cristina McKean
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Get access

Summary

This chapter examines factors that influence early language capabilities and the dynamic nature of children’s language development across childhood. Language skills can facilitate literacy and early success at school, as well as contributing to adaptive functioning through the development of communication and social-emotional skills. The early home learning environment is an important predictor of language development and school readiness in preschool and kindergarten children. We focus on two studies that use Australian data to investigate environmental predictors of early language skills and how, across childhood, variations in language skills and peer problems impact on mental health in early adolescence. In Study 1, the associations between specific aspects of the early home learning environment and children’s language development in the first three years are investigated, drawing on data from a large sample of socio-economically vulnerable families living in Australia. Study 2 investigates the cross-lagged associations between child receptive vocabulary and peer problems over middle childhood (4–5, 6–7 and 8–9 years) and subsequent mental health problems in early adolescence (12–13 years).

Keywords

language developmentearly home learning environmentcommunicationsocio-emotional skillsmental healthreceptive vocabularypeer problemsearly childhoodmiddle childhoodearly adolescence
Type
Chapter
Information
Language Development
Individual Differences in a Social Context
 , pp. 322 - 346
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Institute of Family Studies (2013). Longitudinal Study of Australian Children data user guide. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Bates, E., & Dick, F. (2002). Language, gesture, and the developing brain. Developmental Psychobiology, 40, 293–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bates, E., & Goodman, J. C. (2001). On the inseparability of grammar and the lexicon: Evidence from acquisition. Language and Cognitive Processes, 12, 507–584.Google Scholar
Beitchman, J. H., Jiang, H., Koyama, E., Johnson, C. J., Escobar, M., Atkinson, L., … Vida, R. (2008). Models and determinants of vocabulary growth from kindergarten to adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 626–634.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beitchman, J. H., Wilson, B., Johnson, C. J., Atkinson, L., Young, A., Adlaf, E., … Douglas, L. (2001). Fourteen-year follow-up of speech/language-impaired and control children: Psychiatric outcome. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 75–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blakemore, T., & Strazdins, L. (2009). Measuring family socioeconomic position. Australian Social Policy, 8, 121–168.Google Scholar
Bornstein, M. H., Hahn, C.-S., Putnick, D. L., & Pearson, R. M. (2018). Stability of core language skill from infancy to adolescence in typical and atypical development. Science Advances, 4, eaat7422.Google Scholar
Botting, N., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2000). Social and behavioural difficulties in children with language impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 16, 105–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botting, N., & Conti‐Ramsden, G. (2008). The role of language, social cognition, and social skill in the functional social outcomes of young adolescents with and without a history of SLI. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 281–300.Google Scholar
Bretherton, L., Prior, M., Bavin, E., Cini, E., Eadie, P., & Reilly, S. (2014). Developing relationships between language and behaviour in preschool children from the Early Language in Victoria Study: Implications for intervention. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 19, 7–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne, B. (2012). Structural equation modeling with Mplus. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Camp, B. W., Cunningham, M., & Berman, S. (2010). Relationship between the cognitive environment and vocabulary development during the second year of life. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 164, 950–956.Google Scholar
Cantwell, D. P., & Baker, L. (1991). Psychiatric and developmental disorders in children with communication disorder. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Clegg, J., Law, J., Rush, R., Peters, T. J., & Roulstone, S. (2015). The contribution of early language development to children’s emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years: an analysis of data from the Children in Focus sample from the ALSPAC birth cohort. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 56, 67–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conti‐Ramsden, G., & Botting, N. (2008). Emotional health in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI). Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 516–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dreyer, B., Mendelsohn, A., & Tamis-LeMonda, C. (1996). Assessing the child’s cognitive home environment through parental report: Reliability and validity. Early Development and Parenting, 5, 271–287.3.0.CO;2-D>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L., & Dunn, L. (1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 3rd ed. Circle Pines, MN: AGS.Google Scholar
Feeney, R., Desha, L., Ziviani, J., & Nicholson, J. M. (2012). Health-related quality-of-life of children with speech and language difficulties: A review of the literature. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 14, 59–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenson, L., Pethick, S., Renda, C., Cox, J. L., Dale, P. S., & Reznick, J. S. (2000). Short-form versions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 95–116.Google Scholar
Fenson, L., Marchman, V. A., Thal, D. J., Dale, P. S., Reznick, S. Jr., & Bates, E. (2007). MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories: User’s guide and technical manual, 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.Google Scholar
Foy, J. G., & Mann, V. (2003). Home literacy environment and phonological awareness in preschool children: Differential effects for rhyme and phoneme awareness. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 59–88.Google Scholar
Froyen, L. C., Skibbe, L. E., Bowles, R. P., Blow, A. J., & Gerde, H. K. (2013). Marital satisfaction, family emotional expressiveness, home learning environments, and children’s emergent literacy. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 42–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goh Kok Yew, S., & O’Kearney, R. (2015). Early language impairments and developmental pathways of emotional problems across childhood. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 50, 358–373.Google Scholar
Golinkoff, R. M., Hoff, E., Rowe, M. L., Tamis‐LeMonda, C. S., & Hirsh‐Pasek, K. (2019). Language matters: Denying the existence of the 30‐million‐word gap has serious consequences. Child Development, 90, 985–992.Google Scholar
Goodman, R., Meltzer, H., & Bailey, V. (1998). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A pilot study on the validity of the self-report version. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 7, 125–130.Google Scholar
Gray, M., & Sanson, A. (2005). Growing up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Family Matters, 72, 4–9.Google Scholar
Griffin, E. A., & Morrison, F. J. (1997). The unique contribution of home literacy environment to differences in early literacy skills. Early Child Development and Care, 127, 233–243.Google Scholar
Hart, K. I., Fujiki, M., Brinton, B., & Hart, C. H. (2004). The relationship between social behavior and severity of language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47, 647–662.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartas, D. (2012). Inequality and the home learning environment: Predictions about seven-year-olds’ language and literacy. British Educational Research Journal, 38, 859–879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, N. (2015). Continuity and change in family engagement in home learning activities across the early years. Doctoral thesis, Queensland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1–55.Google Scholar
Im-Bolter, N., Cohen, N. J., & Farnia, F. (2013). I thought we were good: Social cognition, figurative language, and adolescent psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54, 724–732.Google Scholar
Keown, L. J., Woodward, L. J., & Field, J. (2001), Language development of pre‐school children born to teenage mothers. Infant and Child Development, 10, 129–145.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L. J., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D. K., Normand, S.-L. T., … Zaslavsky, A. M. (2002). Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32, 959–976.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., Walters, , & E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593–602.Google Scholar
King, T., Rush, R., Westrupp, E., Reilly, S., McKean, C., & Law, J. (2016). Acquisition of maternal education and its relation to single-word reading in middle childhood: An analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study. Merrill- Palmer Quarterly, 63(2), 181–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, J., Rush, R., Clegg, J., Peters, T., & Roulstone, S. (2015). The role of pragmatics in mediating the relationship between social disadvantage and adolescent behavior. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 36, 389–398.Google Scholar
Law, J., Rush, R., King, T., Westrupp, E., & Reilly, S. (2018). The association between early home activities and oral language skills in middle childhood: A quantile analysis with implications for the targeting of intervention. Child Development, 89, 295–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewedag, V. L., Oller, D. K., & Lynch, M. P. (1994). Infants’ vocalization patterns across home and laboratory environments. First Language, 14, 49–65.Google Scholar
Little, T. D. (2013). Longitudinal structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Longobardi, E., Spataro, P., Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2017). Do early noun and verb production predict later verb and noun production? Theoretical implications. Journal of Child Language, 44, 480–495.Google Scholar
Marjanovič Umek, L., Podlesek, A., & Fekonja, U. (2005). Assessing the home literacy environment. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21, 271–281.Google Scholar
Marulis, L. M., & Neuman, S. B. (2010). The effects of vocabulary intervention on young children’s word learning: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 80, 300–335.Google Scholar
McGee, R., Williams, S., & Feehan, M. (1992). Attention deficit disorder and age of onset of problem behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 487–502.Google Scholar
Melhuish, E. C., Phan, M. B., Sylva, K., Sammons, P., Siraj‐Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Effects of the home learning environment and preschool center experience upon literacy and numeracy development in early primary school. Journal of Social Issues, 64, 95–114.Google Scholar
Moeller, J. (2015). A word on standardization in longitudinal studies: Don’t. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1389.Google Scholar
Mok, P. L. H., Pickles, A., Durkin, K., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2014). Longitudinal trajectories of peer relations in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55, 516–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, P. L., Farkas, G., Hillemeier, M. M., Scheffner Hammer, C., & Maczuga, S. (2015). 24-month-old children with larger vocabularies display greater academic and behavioral functioning at kindergarten entry. Child Development, 86(5), 1351–1370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2010). Mplus user’s guide. Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.Google Scholar
National Center for Education Statistics. (2002). Early childhood longitudinal study: Kindergarten class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) psychometric report for kindergarten through first grade (NCES 2002-5). Washington, DC: US Department of Education.Google Scholar
Nicholson, J., Cann, W., Matthews, J., Berthelsen, D., Ukoumunne, O., Trajanovska, M., … Hackworth, N. J. (2016). Enhancing the early home learning environment through a brief group parenting intervention: Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial. BMC Pediatrics, 16, 73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pace, A., Luo, R., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M. (2017). Identifying pathways between socioeconomic status and language development. Annual Review of Linguistics, 3, 285–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pan, B. A., Rowe, M. L., Singer, J. D., & Snow, C. E. (2005). Maternal correlates of growth in toddler vocabulary production in low-income families. Child Development, 76, 763–782.Google Scholar
Petersen, I. T., Bates, J. E., D’Onofrio, B. M., Coyne, C. A., Lansford, J. E., Dodge, , … Van Hulle, C. A. (2013). Language ability predicts the development of behavior problems in children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 542–557.Google Scholar
Rafferty, Y., & Griffin, K. W. (2010). Parenting behaviours among low‐income mothers of preschool age children in the USA: Implications for parenting programmes. International Journal of Early Years Education, 18, 143–157.Google Scholar
Raikes, H., Alexander Pan, B., Luze, G., Tamis‐LeMonda, C. S., Brooks‐Gunn, J., Constantine, J., … Rodriguez, E. T. (2006). Mother–child bookreading in low‐income families: Correlates and outcomes during the first three years of life. Child Development, 77, 924–953.Google Scholar
Reilly, S., Wake, M., Ukoumunne, O. C., Bavin, E., Prior, M., Cini, E., … Bretherton, L. (2010). Predicting language outcomes at 4 years of age: Findings from Early Language in Victoria Study. Pediatrics, 126, e1530–e1537.Google Scholar
Rice, M. L., Taylor, C. L., & Zubrick, S. R. (2008). Language outcomes of 7-year-old children with or without a history of late language emergence at 24 months. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 51, 394.Google Scholar
Roberts, J. E., Burchinal, M., & Durham, M. (1999). Parents’ report of vocabulary and grammatical development of African American preschoolers: Child and environmental associations. Child Development, 70, 92–106.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, E. T., & Tamis‐LeMonda, C. S. (2011). Trajectories of the home learning environment across the first 5 years: Associations with children’s vocabulary and literacy skills at prekindergarten. Child Development, 82, 1058–1075.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rogde, K., Hagen, Å. M., Melby-Lervåg, M., & Lervåg, A. (2016). The effect of linguistic comprehension training on language and reading comprehension: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 12(1), 1–50.Google Scholar
Rothman, S. (2003). An Australian version of the Adapted PPVT-III for use in research. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.Google Scholar
Sanson, A., Misson, S., & The Outcome Index Working Group (2005). LSAC technical paper #2. Summarising children’s wellbeing: The LSAC Outcome Index. Canberra: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Sawyer, M. G., Arney, F. M., Baghurst, P. A., Clark, J. J., Graetz, B. W., Kosky, R. J., … Zubrick, S. R. (2001). The mental health of young people in Australia: Key findings from the child and adolescent component of the national survey of mental health and well-being. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 806–814.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schoon, I., Parsons, S., Rush, R., & Law, J. (2010). Children’s language ability and psychosocial development: A 29-year follow-up study. Pediatrics, 126, e73–e80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sénéchal, M., & LeFevre, J. A. (2014). Continuity and change in the home literacy environment as predictors of growth in vocabulary and reading. Child Development, 85, 1552–1568.Google Scholar
Sipthorp, M., & Daraganova, G. (2011). LSAC technical paper no. 9: Wave 4 weights. Canberra: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Snowling, M. J., Duff, F. J., Nash, H. M., & Hulme, C. (2015). Language profiles and literacy outcomes of children with resolving, emerging, or persisting language impairments. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57(12), 1360–1369.Google Scholar
Soloff, C., Lawrence, D., & Johnstone, R. (2005). Sample design (LSAC technical paper no. 1). Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Soloff, C., Lawrence, D., Misson, S., & Johnstone, R. (2006). LSAC technical paper no. 3. Wave 1 weighting and non-response. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Soloff, C., Sanson, A., Wake, M., & Harrison, L. (2007). Enhancing longitudinal studies by linkage to national databases: Growing up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 10, 349–363.Google Scholar
Song, S., Su, M., Kang, C., Liu, H., Zhang, Y., McBride-Chang, C., … Shu, H. (2015). Tracing children’s vocabulary development from preschool through the school-age years: An 8-year longitudinal study. Developmental Science, 18, 119–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spira, E. G., & Fischel, J. E. (2005). The impact of preschool inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity on social and academic development: A review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 755–773.Google Scholar
Squires, J., & Bricker, D. (2009). Ages and Stages Questionnaires: ASQ-3 Starter Kit: A parent-completed child-monitoring system. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.Google Scholar
St Clair, M. C., Pickles, A., Durkin, K., & Conti-Ramsden, G. (2011). A longitudinal study of behavioral, emotional and social difficulties in individuals with a history of specific language impairment (SLI). Journal of Communication Disorders, 44, 186–199.Google Scholar
Steffens, M. L., Oller, D., Lynch, M., & Urbano, R. (1992). Vocal development in infants with Down syndrome and infants who are developing normally. American Journal of Mental Retardation: AJMR, 97, 235–246.Google Scholar
StataCorp. (2011). Stata statistical software. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.Google Scholar
Sylva, K., Melhuish, E. C., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., & Taggart, B. (2008). Final report from the primary phase: Pre-school, school and family influences on children’s development during Key Stage 2 (7–11). Research report 61, UoL Institute of Education. Nottingham: DCSF.Google Scholar
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S., Shannon, J. D., Cabrera, N. J., & Lamb, M. E. (2004). Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: Contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Development, 75, 1806–1820.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomblin, J. B., Zhang, X., Buckwalter, P., & Catts, H. (2000). The association of reading disability, behavioral disorders, and language impairment among second-grade children. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 473–482.Google Scholar
Tomopoulos, S., Dreyer, B. P., Tamis-LeMonda, C., Flynn, V., Rovira, I., Tineo, W., & Mendelsohn, A. L. (2006). Books, toys, parent–child interaction, and development in young Latino children. Ambulatory Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, 6, 72–78.Google Scholar
Ukoumunne, O., Wake, M., Carlin, J., Bavin, E., Lum, J., Skeat, J., … Reilly, S. (2012). Profiles of language development in pre‐school children: A longitudinal latent class analysis of data from the Early Language in Victoria Study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 38, 341–349.Google Scholar
Van Steensel, R. (2006). Relations between socio‐cultural factors, the home literacy environment and children’s literacy development in the first years of primary education. Journal of Research in Reading, 29, 367–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Westerlund, M., & Lagerberg, D. (2008). Expressive vocabulary in 18‐month‐old children in relation to demographic factors, mother and child characteristics, communication style and shared reading. Child: Care, Health and Development, 34, 257–266.Google Scholar
Westrupp, E. M., Reilly, S., McKean, C., Law, J., Mensah, F., & Nicholson, J. M. (2019). Vocabulary development and trajectories of behavioral and emotional difficulties via academic ability and peer problems. Child Development, 91(2), e365–e382.Google Scholar
Zubrick, S. R., Taylor, C. L., & Christensen, D. (2015). Patterns and predictors of language and literacy abilities 4–10 years in the longitudinal study of Australian children. PLOS ONE, 10, e0135612.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×