Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.
Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2023 Dec 11;66(12):4934-4948. doi: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00069. Epub 2023 Oct 27.
This study evaluates the extent to which automated indices of vocal development are stable and valid for predicting language in infants at increased familial likelihood for autism and/or language impairment and relatively lower likelihood infants.
A group of infants with autistic siblings (Sibs-autism; 20 infants) and a comparison group of infants with non-autistic siblings (Sibs-NA; 20 infants) wore Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) recording devices for 16 hr on 2 days within a 1-week period. Extant software was used to derive several putative indices of vocal development from these recordings. Stability of these variables was examined across and within groups. Expressive and receptive language aggregates were calculated for each participant. Multiple regression analyses were used to (a) evaluate zero-order correlations for variables derived from LENA recordings with concurrent and future language and (b) test whether those associations were moderated by group status.
Both stability and validity differed by variable and group status. All variables reached acceptable stability in the Sibs-autism group within two to three observations, whereas stability of most variables was attenuated in the Sibs-NA group. No variables were associated with concurrent language in the theoretically motivated direction across groups, but two variables were strongly associated with concurrent expressive language in only the Sibs-NA group. Additionally, two variables were associated with later expressive language, though these correlations were again stronger in the Sibs-NA versus Sibs-autism group.
Although selected automated indices of vocal development were stable in Sibs-autism and/or valid for predicting expressive language within Sibs-NA, no scores showed strong, theoretically motivated associations with language within the Sibs-autism group. Automated indices of vocal development may, thus, have limited validity or clinical utility for predicting language development in infants at elevated familial likelihood for autism.
本研究评估了自动化嗓音发展指标在预测具有自闭症家族史和/或语言障碍风险较低的婴儿语言发展方面的稳定性和有效性。
一组具有自闭症兄弟姐妹的婴儿（自闭症兄弟姐妹组；20 名婴儿）和一组具有非自闭症兄弟姐妹的婴儿（非自闭症兄弟姐妹组；20 名婴儿）在一周内的两天内，佩戴语言环境分析（LENA）记录器 16 小时。利用现有的软件从这些录音中得出了几个潜在的嗓音发展指标。检验了这些变量在组内和组间的稳定性。为每个参与者计算了表达性和接受性语言总和。采用多元回归分析来（a）评估从 LENA 记录中获得的变量与同时期和未来语言的零阶相关性，以及（b）检验这些相关性是否受到组间状态的调节。
稳定性和有效性因变量和组间状态而异。在自闭症兄弟姐妹组中，所有变量在两到三次观察后都达到了可接受的稳定性，而在非自闭症兄弟姐妹组中，大多数变量的稳定性减弱。在两组中，没有变量与同时期语言呈理论上预期的方向相关，但有两个变量仅与非自闭症兄弟姐妹组的同时期表达性语言强烈相关。此外，还有两个变量与后来的表达性语言相关，尽管这些相关性在非自闭症兄弟姐妹组中比自闭症兄弟姐妹组更强。
虽然选定的自动化嗓音发展指标在自闭症兄弟姐妹组中具有稳定性，并且在非自闭症兄弟姐妹组中可以预测表达性语言，但在自闭症兄弟姐妹组中，没有任何指标与语言呈强烈的、理论上预期的相关性。因此，自动化嗓音发展指标可能对预测具有自闭症家族史的婴儿的语言发展的有效性有限。
