Kubicek Lorraine F, Emde Robert N
University of Colorado School of Medicine.
University of Colorado School of Medicine and University of Colorado School of Public Health.
Infant Ment Health J. 2012 Nov;33(6):553-584. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21364.
Children's emotional expression and language both develop during infancy and early childhood, yet these two communication systems have been studied primarily in isolation. This study focuses instead on assessing the relation between them just as productive language emerges during toddlerhood. Seventy-seven typically developing, firstborn toddlers and their families were recruited at 13 months of age. Using an extreme groups design, earlier and later talkers were selected based on their MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory production scores. Laboratory visits occurred at 15, 21, and 30 months; home visits occurred at 3-month intervals from 15 to 30 months. Observational and parent report measures assessed child language, emotional expression, temperament, and overall developmental functioning. Parents also reported on parenting stress and family life events. Overall, results support a significant relation between emotional expression and productive language that varies according to the specific emotion, a finding that may resolve earlier contradictory results in this area. Earlier talkers expressed more joy/pleasure than did later talkers, but later talkers expressed more fear and anger than did earlier talkers. Potential contributions of various child/family factors were explored. Child temperament is proposed as influencing this relation through its effects on the child's transactions with the caregiving environment.
儿童的情感表达和语言能力均在婴儿期和幼儿期发展，但这两种交流系统主要是被孤立地研究。本研究转而关注在幼儿期出现有效语言时评估它们之间的关系。77名发育正常的头胎幼儿及其家庭在13个月大时被招募。采用极端组设计，根据麦克阿瑟交流发展量表的产出得分挑选出说话早和说话晚的幼儿。实验室访视在15、21和30个月时进行；家访在15至30个月期间每隔3个月进行一次。观察性和家长报告测量评估了儿童语言、情感表达、气质和整体发育功能。家长还报告了育儿压力和家庭生活事件。总体而言，结果支持情感表达和有效语言之间存在显著关系，且这种关系因具体情感而异，这一发现可能解决了该领域早期相互矛盾的结果。说话早的幼儿比说话晚的幼儿表达出更多的快乐，但说话晚的幼儿比说话早的幼儿表达出更多的恐惧和愤怒。研究探讨了各种儿童/家庭因素的潜在影响。儿童气质被认为通过其对儿童与照料环境互动的影响来影响这种关系。
