Majorano Marinella, Brondino Margherita, Morelli Marika, Ferrari Rachele, Lavelli Manuela, Guerzoni Letizia, Cuda Domenico, Persici Valentina
Department of Human Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
U.O. Otorhinolaryngology, Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital, Piacenza, Italy.
Front Psychol. 2020 Nov 19;11:591584. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591584. eCollection 2020.
Studies have shown that children vary in the trajectories of their language development after cochlear implant (CI) activation. The aim of the present study is to assess the preverbal and lexical development of a group of 20 Italian-speaking children observed longitudinally before CI activation and at three, 6 and 12 months after CI surgery (mean age at the first session: 17.5 months; SD: 8.3; and range: 10-35). The group of children with CIs (G-CI) was compared with two groups of normally-hearing (NH) children, one age-matched (G-NHA; mean age at the first session: 17.4 months; SD: 8.0; and range: 10-34) and one language-matched (G-NHL; = 20; mean age at the first session: 11.2 months; SD: 0.4; and range: 11-12). The spontaneous interactions between children and their mothers during free-play were transcribed. Preverbal babbling production and first words were considered for each child. Data analysis showed significant differences in babbling and word production between groups, with a lower production of words in children with CIs compared to the G-NHA group and a higher production of babbling compared to the G-NHL children. Word production 1 year after activation was significantly lower for the children with CIs than for language-matched children only when maternal education was controlled for. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis showed that children with CIs belonged mainly to classes that exhibited a low level of initial production but also progressive increases over time. Babbling production had a statistically significant effect on lexical growth but not on class membership, and only for groups showing slower and constant increases. Results highlight the importance of preverbal vocal patterns for later lexical development and may support families and speech therapists in the early identification of risk and protective factors for language delay in children with CIs.
研究表明，儿童在人工耳蜗（CI）激活后的语言发展轨迹各不相同。本研究的目的是评估一组20名讲意大利语的儿童在CI激活前以及CI手术后3个月、6个月和12个月的语言前和词汇发展情况（第一次评估时的平均年龄：17.5个月；标准差：8.3；范围：10 - 35个月）。将CI儿童组（G - CI）与两组听力正常（NH）儿童进行比较，一组是年龄匹配组（G - NHA；第一次评估时的平均年龄：17.4个月；标准差：8.0；范围：10 - 34个月），另一组是语言匹配组（G - NHL；n = 20；第一次评估时的平均年龄：11.2个月；标准差：0.4；范围：11 - 12个月）。记录了儿童与母亲在自由玩耍期间的自发互动。考虑了每个儿童的语言前咿呀学语和第一个单词。数据分析显示，各组之间在咿呀学语和单词产出方面存在显著差异，与G - NHA组相比，CI儿童的单词产出较少，与G - NHL儿童相比，咿呀学语较多。仅在控制了母亲教育程度后发现，CI儿童激活1年后的单词产出显著低于语言匹配儿童。此外，潜在类别增长分析表明，CI儿童主要属于初始产出水平较低但随时间逐渐增加的类别。咿呀学语产出对词汇增长有统计学显著影响，但对类别归属没有影响，且仅对显示增长较慢且稳定的组有影响。结果突出了语言前发声模式对后期词汇发展的重要性，并可能有助于家庭和言语治疗师早期识别CI儿童语言延迟的风险和保护因素。
