Russell Ginny, Miller Laura L, Ford Tamsin, Golding Jean
Institute of Health Services Research, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK,
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2014;42(5):825-30. doi: 10.1007/s10802-013-9819-8.
Retrospective recall about children's symptoms is used to establish early developmental patterns in clinical practice and is also utilised in child psychopathology research. Some studies have indicated that the accuracy of retrospective recall is influenced by life events. Our hypothesis was that an intervention: speech and language therapy, would adversely affect the accuracy of parent recall of early concerns about their child's speech and language development. Mothers (n = 5,390) reported on their child's speech development (child male to female ratio = 50:50) when their children were aged 18 or 30 months, and also reported on these early concerns retrospectively, 10 years later, when their children were 13 years old. Overall reliability of retrospective recall was good, 86 % of respondents accurately recalling their earlier concerns. As hypothesised, however, the speech and language intervention was strongly associated with inaccurate retrospective recall about concerns in the early years (Relative Risk Ratio = 19.03; 95 % CI:14.78-24.48). Attendance at speech therapy was associated with increased recall of concerns that were not reported at the time. The study suggests caution is required when interpreting retrospective reports of abnormal child development as recall may be influenced by intervening events.
在临床实践中，回顾性回忆儿童症状用于确立早期发育模式，在儿童精神病理学研究中也会用到。一些研究表明，回顾性回忆的准确性受生活事件影响。我们的假设是，言语和语言治疗这种干预措施会对家长回忆孩子早期言语和语言发育问题的准确性产生不利影响。母亲们（n = 5390）在孩子18个月或30个月大时报告孩子的言语发育情况（男女比例为50:50），并在10年后孩子13岁时回顾性报告这些早期问题。回顾性回忆的总体可靠性良好，86%的受访者准确回忆起他们早期的担忧。然而，正如假设的那样，言语和语言干预与早年担忧的回顾性回忆不准确密切相关（相对风险率 = 19.03；95%置信区间：14.78 - 24.48）。接受言语治疗与回忆起当时未报告的担忧增加有关。该研究表明，在解释儿童发育异常的回顾性报告时需要谨慎，因为回忆可能会受到中间事件的影响。
