Maternal responsiveness predicts child language at ages 3 and 4 in a community-based sample of slow-to-talk toddlers

• Published in: International journal of language & communication disorders 2015-01, Vol.50 (1), p.136-142
• Main Authors: Hudson, Sophie, Levickis, Penny, Down, Kate, Nicholls, Ruth, Wake, Melissa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Differences; Australia; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Educational Attainment; Expressive Language; Female; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Humans; Infant; Interaction; Language; Language Acquisition; language development; Language Development Disorders - diagnosis; Language Development Disorders - psychology; Language Impairments; Language Skills; longitudinal; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Maternal Behavior; mother-child interaction; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; paediatric; Parent Child Relationship; Predictor Variables; Preschool children; Psychosocial Deprivation; Rating Scales; Regression (Statistics); Responses; responsiveness; Risk Factors; Scores; Socioeconomic Status; Statistics as Topic; Toddlers; Verbal Behavior; Victoria; Video Technology; Young Children
• ISSN: 1368-2822; 1460-6984
• DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12129

Background Maternal responsiveness has been shown to predict child language outcomes in clinical samples of children with language delay and non‐representative samples of typically developing children. An effective and timely measure of maternal responsiveness for use at the population level has not yet been established. Aims To determine whether a global rating of maternal responsiveness at age 2 years predicts language outcomes at ages 3 and 4 in a community sample of slow‐to‐talk toddlers. Methods & Procedures In an Australian population‐based study, at child age 1:6 years, 301 slow‐to‐talk toddlers (scoring ≤20th percentile on a parent‐reported expressive vocabulary checklist) were invited to take part in a 15‐min free‐play video of mother‐child interaction at 2:0 years. Each free‐play video was rated for maternal responsiveness using a five‐point global rating scale, where 1 is ‘very low’ responsiveness and 5 is ‘very high’ responsiveness. Language skills were measured at 3:0 years using PLS‐4 and at 4:0 years using the CELF‐P2. Outcomes & Results In adjusted linear regression models (potential confounders: gender, maternal education, socioeconomic status) maternal responsiveness strongly predicted receptive, expressive and total language standard scores at ages 3 (coefficient = 5.9, p < 0.001; coefficient = 5.4, p < 0.001; coefficient = 6.2, p < 0.001, respectively) and 4 years (coefficient = 4.6, p < 0.001; coefficient = 3.1, p = 0.004; coefficient = 4.0, p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions & Implications Slow‐to‐talk toddlers of mothers with higher global ratings of responsiveness have higher language scores at 3 and 4 years of age. This global measure of maternal responsiveness could be further developed as a clinical tool for identifying which slow‐to‐talk toddlers are most in need of early intervention.