Ebert Susanne, Lehrl Simone, Weinert Sabine
Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2020 Oct 29;11:555654. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.555654. eCollection 2020.
In this study, we examined differential effects of facets of the home language and literacy environment that are known to be relevant to either language development (i.e., quantity and quality of language and literacy stimulation at home) or theory of mind (ToM) development (i.e., parental mental state language), on both children's language skills and their ToM understanding. Moreover, we investigated whether these relations are particularly relevant for children from homes with low socioeconomic status (SES) and whether they account for SES-related disparities in child language skills and ToM understanding. Using longitudinal data of a sample of 224 monolingual German preschool children (assessment of language skills at age 4;6 and 5;6 and ToM at age 5;6), we analyzed the effects of three facets of the home language and literacy environment on later child language and ToM understanding. These facets were book exposure as a measure for quantity of language and literacy stimulation at home, quality of verbal interaction, and parental mental state language assessed between ages 3 and 4. Path analyses showed that book exposure is related to both later ToM understanding and language skills at age 5;6 years; yet, this effect is mediated by earlier language skills at age 4;6 years. Furthermore, book exposure partly mediated the association between SES and language skills and, via earlier language skills at age 4;6, also the relation between SES and ToM. When focusing on children from lower SES families, book exposure and quality of verbal stimulation predicted children's later language skills at age 4;6. Book exposure also predicted change in language skills between age 4;6 and age 5;6. Further, book exposure proved to be significantly associated with children's ToM understanding at age 5;6 via the relation with language skills at 4;6 years. In addition, parental mental state language predicted children's ToM understanding at age 5;6 years. Our findings provide new evidence on how different facets of the home language and literacy environment are related to ToM and language development and their interrelation as well as their SES-related disparities.
在本研究中，我们考察了母语和读写环境中已知与语言发展（即家中语言和读写刺激的数量与质量）或心理理论（ToM）发展（即父母的心理状态语言）相关的各个方面，对儿童语言技能和ToM理解的不同影响。此外，我们还研究了这些关系是否对社会经济地位（SES）较低家庭的儿童尤为重要，以及它们是否能够解释儿童语言技能和ToM理解方面与SES相关的差异。利用224名单语德国学龄前儿童样本的纵向数据（在4岁6个月和5岁6个月时评估语言技能，在5岁6个月时评估ToM），我们分析了母语和读写环境的三个方面对儿童后期语言和ToM理解的影响。这些方面包括作为家中语言和读写刺激数量指标的书籍接触情况、言语互动质量，以及在3至4岁之间评估的父母心理状态语言。路径分析表明，书籍接触情况与5岁6个月时的后期ToM理解和语言技能均相关；然而，这种影响是由4岁6个月时的早期语言技能介导的。此外，书籍接触情况部分介导了SES与语言技能之间的关联，并且通过4岁6个月时的早期语言技能，也介导了SES与ToM之间的关系。当关注社会经济地位较低家庭的儿童时，书籍接触情况和言语刺激质量可预测儿童在4岁6个月时的后期语言技能。书籍接触情况还可预测4岁6个月至5岁6个月之间语言技能的变化。此外，通过与4岁6个月时语言技能的关系，书籍接触情况被证明与5岁6个月时儿童的ToM理解显著相关。此外，父母的心理状态语言可预测5岁6个月时儿童的ToM理解。我们的研究结果为母语和读写环境的不同方面如何与ToM和语言发展相关、它们之间的相互关系以及与SES相关的差异提供了新的证据。
