Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T17:48:28.492Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Environmental influences on early language development: The context of social risk

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Colleen E. Morisset ,
Kathryn E. Barnard ,
Mark T. Greenberg ,
Cathryn L. Booth  and
Susan J. Spieker
Colleen E. Morisset
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle
Kathryn E. Barnard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle
Mark T. Greenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle
Cathryn L. Booth
Affiliation:
Department of Parent and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle
Susan J. Spieker
Affiliation:
Department of Parent and Child Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The impact of environmental risk on toddlers' cognitive and linguistic development was investigated in a longitudinal study of 78 high-risk families. The risk factors examined were family social status, mother's psychosocial functioning, and quality of dyadic involvement at 1 year of age (including measures of mother-infant interaction and infant-mother attachment security). Child outcome measures included the Bayley MDI (at 24 months) and the Preschool Language Scale (at 36 months). The data indicate that dyadic involvement was an important mediator in the relation between environmental risk and subsequent child competence. Specific relations among early interactive experiences, infant attachment security, and subsequent cognitive and linguistic gain were examined within a framework of risk and protective factors. The results suggest that secure attachment may operate as a protective factor, but only among the more extreme cases in this exclusively high-risk sample.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , April 1990 , pp. 127 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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

Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Barnard, K. E., Booth, C. L., Mitchell, S. K., & Telzrow, R. W. (1983). Newborn nursing models project final report (Grant R01-NU-00719). Washington, DC: Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Manpower, Health Resources Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Barnard, K. E., Booth, C. L., Mitchell, S. K., & Telzrow, R. W. (1988). Newborn nursing models: A test of early intervention to high-risk infants and families. In Hibbs, E. (Ed.), Children and families: Studies in prevention and intervention (pp. 63–81). Madison, CT: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Barnard, K. E., Eyres, S., Lobo, M., & Snyder, C. (1983). An ecological paradigm for assessment and intervention. In Brazelton, T. B. & Lester, B. M. (Eds.), New approaches to developmental screening of infants (pp. 199–218). New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Barnard, K. E., Hammond, M., Booth, C. L., Bee, H. L., Mitchell, S. K., & Spieker, S. J. (1989). Measurement and meaning of parent-child interaction. In Morrison, F. J., Lord, C. E., & Keating, D. P. (Eds.), Applied developmental psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 39–80). New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Barnes, S., Gutfreund, M., Satterly, D., & Wells, G. (1983). Characteristics of adult speech which predict children's language development. Journal of Child Language, 10, 65–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The mediator-moderator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1977). From gesture to the first word: On cognitive and social prerequisites. In Lewis, M. & Rosenblum, L. (Eds.), Interaction, conversation, and the development of language (pp. 247–307). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1979). Cognition and communication from nine to thirteen months: Correlational findings. In Hammel, E. A. (Ed.), Language, thought, and culture: Advances in the study of cognition (pp. 69–131). New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Bates, E., Bretherton, I., Beeghly-Smith, M., & McNew, S. (1982). Social bases of language development: A reassessment. In Reese, H. W. & Lipsitt, L. P. (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 16). New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Bayley, N. (1969). Bayley scales of infant development: Birth to two years. New York: Psychological Corp.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., & Beamesderfer, A. (1974). Assessment of depression: The Depression Inventory. In Pi-chot, P. (Ed.), Psychological measurements in psychopharmacology (pp. 151–169). Basel: S. Karger.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bee, H. L., Barnard, K. E., Eyres, S. J., Gray, C. A., Hammond, M. A., Spietz, A. L., Snyder, C., & Clark, B. (1982). Prediction of IQ and language skill from perinatal status, child performance, family characteristics, and mother-infant interaction. Child Development, 53, 1134–1156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bee, H. L., Van Egren, L. F., Streissguth, A. P., Nyman, B. A., & Leckie, M. S. (1969). Social class differences in maternal teaching strategies and speech patterns. Developmental Psychology, 1, 726–734.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, S. M. (1970). The development of the concept of object as related to infant-mother attachment. Child Development, 41, 292–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, S. M., & Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1972). Infant crying and maternal responsiveness. Child Development, 43, 1171–1190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J. (1981). Early human experience: A family perspective. Developmental Psychology, 17, 3–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Rovine, M., & Taylor, D. G. (1984). The Pennsylvania Infant and Family Development Project, 3: The origins of individual differences in infant-mother attachment: Maternal and infant contributions. Child Development, 55, 718–728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernstein, B. (1961). Aspects of language and learning in the genesis of the social process. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, 313–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, C. L., Mitchell, S. K., Barnard, K. E., & Spieker, S. J. (1989). Development of maternal social skills in multiproblem families: Effects on the mother-child relationship. Developmental Psychology, 25, 403–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Caldwell, B. M. (1976a). Early home environment and changes in mental test performance in children from 6 to 36 months. Developmental Psychology, 12, 93–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. H., & Caldwell, B. M. (1976b). The relation of infants' home environments to mental test performance at fifty-four months: A follow-up study. Child Development, 47, 1172–1174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. In Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, pp. 3–35 (1–2, Serial No. 209).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, L., Bates, E., Benigni, L., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1979). Relationships between cognition, communication, and quality of attachment. In Bates, E. (Ed.), The emergence of symbols: Cognition and communication in infancy (pp. 223–269). New York: Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bumberry, W., Oliver, J. M., & McClure, J. N. (1978). Validation of the Beck Depression Inventory in a university population using psychiatric estimate as the criterion. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 150–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, B. M., & Bradley, R. H. (1978). Manual for the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. University of Arkansas.Google Scholar
Carlson, V., Cicchetti, D., Barnett, D., & Braunwald, K. (1989). Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants. Developmental Psychology, 25, 525–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1990). The organization and coherence of socio-emotional, cognitive, and representational development. In Thompson, R. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 275–382). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Beeghly, M. (1987). Symbolic development in maltreated youngsters: An organizational perspective. In Cicchetti, D. & Beeghly, M. (Eds.), Symbolic development in atypical children. New directions in child development (Vol. 36). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rizley, R. (1981). Developmental perspectives on the etiology, intergenerational transmission, and sequelae of child maltreatment. In Rizley, R. & Cicchetti, D. (Eds.), Developmental perspectives on child maltreatment. New Directions for Child Development (Vol. 11). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Wagner, S. (1990). Alternative assessment strategies for the evaluation of infants and toddlers: An organizational perspective. In Meisels, S. J. & Shonkoff, J. P. (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 246–277). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Clarke-Stewart, K. A. (1973). Interactions between mothers and their young children: Characteristics and consequences. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 38, (6–7, Serial No. 153).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke-Stewart, K. A., VanderStoep, L. P., & Killian, G. A. (1979). Analysis and replication of mother-child relations at two years of age. Child Development, 50, 777–793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1975). Applied multiple regression: Correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., & Beckwith, L. (1979). Preterm infant interaction with the caregiver in the first year of life and competence at age two. Child Development, 50, 767–776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coster, W. J., Gersten, M. S., Beeghly, M., & Cicchetti, D. (1989). Communicative functioning in maltreated toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 25, 1020–1029.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crittenden, P. M. (1985). Maltreated infants: Vulnerability and resilience. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 85–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cross, T. G. (1977). Mothers' speech adjustments: The contributions of selected child listener variables. In Snow, C. & Ferguson, C. (Eds.), Talking to children: Language input and acquisition (pp. 151–188). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cross, T. G. (1984). Habilitating the language-impaired child: Ideas from studies of parent-child interaction. Topics in Language Disorders, September, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dale, P. S., Greenberg, M. T., & Crnic, K. A. (1987). The multiple determinants of symbolic development: Evidence from preterm children. In Cicchetti, D. & Beeghly, M. (Eds.), Symbolic development in atypical children, New Directions in Child Development (Vol. 36). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Edwards, A. L. (1985). Multiple regression and the analysis of variance and covariance. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
Egeland, B., & Sroufe, L. A. (1981). Developmental sequelae of maltreatment in infancy. In Rizley, R. & Cicchetti, D. (Eds.), Developmental perspectives on child maltreatment (pp. 77–92). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Elarado, R., Bradley, R., & Caldwell, B. M. (1975). The relation of infants' home environments to mental test performance from six to thirty-six months: A longitudinal analysis. Child Development, 46, 71–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elarado, R., Bradley, R., & Caldwell, B. M. (1977). A longitudinal study of the relation of infants' home environments to language development at age three. Child Development, 48, 595–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erickson, M. F., Sroufe, A. L., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in preschool in a high-risk sample. In Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50, (1–2, Serial No. 209).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Escalona, S. K. (1982). Babies at double hazard: Early development of infants at biologic and social risk. Pediatrics, 70, 670–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Estrada, P., Arsenio, W. F., Hess, R. D., & Holloway, S. D. (1987). Affective quality of the mother-child relationship: Longitudinal consequences for children's school-relevant cognitive functioning. Developmental Psychology, 23, 210–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagan, J. R., & Singer, L. T. (1983). Infant recognition memory as a measure of intelligence. In Lip-sitt, L. P. (Ed.), Advances in infancy research (Vol. 2, pp. 31–78). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Farran, D., & Ramey, C. (1980). Social class differences in dyadic involvement during infancy. Child Development, 51, 254–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garmezy, N., Masten, A. S., & Tellegen, A. (1984). The study of stress and competence in children: A building block for developmental psychopathology. Child Development, 55, 97–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gersten, M., Coster, W., Schneider-Rosen, K., Carlson, V., & Cicchetti, D. (1986). The socio-emotional bases of communicative functioning: Quality of attachment, language development, and early maltreatment. In Lamb, M., Brown, A. L., & Rogoff, B. (Eds.), Advances in developmental psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 105–151). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Golden, M., & Birns, B. (1968). Social class and cognitive development in infancy. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 14, 139–149.Google Scholar
Hess, R. D., & Shipman, V. (1965). Early experience and the socialization of cognitive modes in children. Child Development, 36, 869–886.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hinde, R. (1976). On describing relationships. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoff-Ginsberg, E. (1989). Effects of social class and interactive setting on maternal speech. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Kansas City, Missouri, April 1989.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four factor index ofsocial status. Unpublished manual, New Haven, CT: Yale University.Google Scholar
Lyons, R. K., Zoll, D., Connell, D., & Grunebaum, H. U. (1986). The depressed mother and her one-year-old infant: Environment, interaction, attachment, and infant development. In Tronick, E. Z. & Field, T. (Eds.), Maternal depression and infant disturbance. New Directions for Child Development (Vol. 34). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E. (1980). Child-rearing practices and their effects. In Social development: Psychological growth and the parent-child relationship (pp. 367–411). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Solomon, J. (in press). Procedures for identifying insecure-disorganized/disoriented infants. To appear in Greenberg, M., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Main, M., & Weston, D. (1981). The quality of the toddler's relationship to mother and to father: Related to conflict behavior and the readiness to establish new relationships. Child Development, 52, 932–940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCall, R. B. (1981). Nature-nurture and the two realms of development: A proposed integration with respect to mental development. Child Development, 52, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, L., & Pien, D. (1982). Mother conversational behavior as a function of interactional intent. Journal of Child Language, 9, 337–358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mcloughlin, C. S., & Gullo, D. F. (1984). Comparison of three formal methods of preschool language assessment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools, 15, 146–153.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S. K. (1987). Maternal social skills related to mother-child interaction and child outcomes. Unpublished raw data.Google Scholar
Mitchell, S. K., Bee, H. L., Hammond, M. A., & Barnard, K. E. (1985). Prediction of school and behavior problems in children followed from birth to age eight. In Frankenburg, W. K. (Ed.), Early identification of children at risk (pp. 117–132). New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morisset, C. E. (unpublished). Mother-child language coding manual. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.Google Scholar
Nelson, K. (1973). Structure and strategy in learning to talk. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 38, (1–2, Serial No. 149).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, M. J., Sigman, M., & Brill, N. (1987). Disorganization of attachment in relation to maternal alcohol consumption. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 831–836.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olim, E. G. (1970). Maternal language styles and cognitive development of young children. In Williams, F. (Ed.), Language and poverty (pp. 212–228). Chicago: Markham.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsen-Fulero, L. (1982). Style and stability in mother conversational behavior: A study of individual differences. Journal of Child Language, 9, 543–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson, S. L., Bates, J. E., & Bayles, K. (1984). Mother-infant interaction and the development of individual differences in children's cognitive competence. Developmental Psychology, 20, 166–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rabkin, J. G., & Klein, D. F. (1987). The clinical measurement of depressive disorders. In Marsella, A. J., Hirschfeld, R. M. A., & Katz, M. (Eds.), The measurement of depression (pp. 30–83). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two- and three-year-olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 56, 884–893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramey, C. T., Farran, D. D., & Campbell, F. (1978). Predicting IQ from mother-infant interaction. Child Development, 50, 804–814.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robins, L. (1966). Childhood behavior predicting later diagnosis; and The family setting of the young sociopath. In Deviant children grown up (pp. 135–201). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Rolf, J. A., Masten, A., Cicchetti, D., Nuechterlein, , & Weintraub, S. (1990). Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1979). Protective factors in children's responses to stress and disadvantage. In Kent, M. W. & Rolf, J. L. (Eds.), Primary prevention of psycho-pathology: Social competence in children (Vol. 3, pp. 49–74). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985a). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disturbance. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985b). Family and school influences on cognitive development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 26, 683–704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Yule, B., Quinton, D., Rowlands, O., Yule, W., & Berger, M. (1974). Attainment and adjustment in two geographical areas: III: Some factors accounting for area differences. British Journal of Psychiatry, 123, 520–533.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J. (1980). Issues in early reproductive and caretaking risk: Review and current status. In Swain, D. B., Hawkins, R. C., Walker, L. O., & Penticuff, J. H. (Eds.), Exceptional infant: Psychosocial risks in infant-environment transactions (Vol. 4, pp. 343–359). New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J., & Chandler, M. J. (1975). Reproductive risk and the continuum of caretaking casualty. In Horowitz, F. D., Hetherington, M., Scarr-Sa-lapatek, S., & Siegel, G. (Eds.), Review of child development research (Vol. 4, pp. 187–244). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J., & Seifer, R. (1983). Familial risk and child competence. Child Development, 54, 1254–1268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sameroff, A., Seifer, R., & Zax, M. (1982). Early development of children at risk for emotional disorder. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47 (7, Serial No. 199).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sarason, I., Johnson, H., & Siegel, M. (1978). Assessing the impact of life changes: Development of the life experiences survey. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 932–946.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seifer, R., & Sameroff, A. J. (1987). Multiple determinants of risk and invulnerability. In Anthony, E. J. & Cohler, B. J. (Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 51–69). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Slaughter, D. T. (1983). Early intervention and its effects on maternal and child development. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 48 (4, Serial No. 202).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. C., Flick, G. L., Ferriss, G. S., & Sell-man, A. H. (1972). Prediction of developmental outcome at seven years from prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal events. Child Development, 43, 495–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E. (1977). The development of conversation between mothers and babies. Journal of Child Language, 4, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E., Arlman-Rupp, A., Hassing, Y., Jobse, J., Joosten, J., & Vorster, J. (1976). Mothers' speech in three social classes. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 5, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. E., Midkiff-Borunda, S., Small, A., & Proctor, A. (1984). Therapy as social interaction: analyzing the contexts for language remediation. Topics in Language Disorders, 07, 1984, 72–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spieker, S. J., & Booth, C. L. (1988). Maternal antecedents of attachment quality. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 95–135). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Terman, L. M., & Merrill, M. A. (1960). Manual to the Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale (3rd rev. ed., Form L-M). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Tulkin, S. R., & Cohler, B. J. (1973). Childrearing attitudes and mother-child interaction in the first year of life. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 19, 95–106.Google Scholar
Tulkin, S. R., & Kagan, J. (1972). Mother-child interaction in the first year of life. Child Development, 43, 31–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wells, C. G. (1974). Learning to code experience through language. Journal of Child Language, 1, 243–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, E. E. (1986). A longitudinal study of perinatal risk. In Farran, D. C. & McKinney, J. D. (Eds.), Risk in intellectual and social development (pp. 3–27). Orlando, FL: Academic.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, I. L., Steiner, V. G., & Pond, R. E. (1979). Preschool language scale. Columbus, OH: Merrill.Google Scholar