School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2024 Mar 11;67(3):886-899. doi: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00389. Epub 2024 Jan 29.
To investigate the language environments experienced by preterm-born infants, this study compared the linguistic and interactive features of parent-infant conversations involving 2-year-old preterm- and term-born infants. The study also explored how mother-infant and father-infant conversations may be differentially affected by preterm/term birth status.
Twenty-two preterm-born (< 37 weeks' gestation) and 25 term-born (≥ 37 weeks' gestation) 2-year-old infants engaged in dyadic mother/father-infant free-play interactions that were transcribed to quantify the linguistic (parental volubility, speech rate, lexical diversity, and morphosyntactic complexity) and interactive (infant/parent responsiveness, turn-taking, and conversational balance) features of parent-infant conversations. Language, cognitive, socioemotional, and executive function skills were assessed via standardized tools.
Compared to the term group, the preterm group was characterized by lower maternal speech rate, parental lexical diversity, and parent-infant turn-taking, as well as greater mother-infant conversational balance. The preterm group presented poorer language and executive function skills when compared to the term group.
Both similarities and differences exist between the language environments of preterm and term groups. Similarities may be due to the partial developmental catch-up of preterm-born infants (cognitive and socioemotional skills) and parental scaffolding. Differences may partly reflect a parental adaptation to the language and executive function difficulties of preterm-born infants. These findings suggest that researchers/clinicians should appraise the language environment with respect to the unique developmental needs of preterm/term-born infants. Future research directions are provided to advance a more holistic characterization of the language environment and a deeper understanding of the developmental significance of preterm-term differences in such environments.
为了探究早产儿的语言环境，本研究对比了 2 岁时早产儿和足月儿的母婴对话的语言和互动特征。此外，本研究还探讨了母婴对话和父婴对话可能会如何因早产/足月出生状态而产生差异。
22 名早产儿（<37 周）和 25 名足月儿（≥37 周）2 岁婴儿与母亲/父亲进行了自由玩耍的互动，这些互动被转录下来，以量化母婴对话中的语言（父母的健谈程度、语速、词汇多样性和形态句法复杂性）和互动（婴儿/父母的反应性、轮流发言和对话平衡）特征。语言、认知、社会情感和执行功能技能通过标准化工具进行评估。
与足月儿组相比，早产儿组的母亲语速较低、父母词汇多样性和母婴轮流发言较少、母婴对话平衡度较大。与足月儿组相比，早产儿组的语言和执行功能技能较差。
早产儿和足月儿的语言环境既有相似之处，也有不同之处。相似之处可能是由于早产儿部分的发展追赶（认知和社会情感技能）和父母的指导。差异可能部分反映了父母对早产儿语言和执行功能困难的适应。这些发现表明，研究人员/临床医生应该根据早产儿/足月儿的独特发展需求来评估语言环境。提供了未来研究方向，以更全面地描述语言环境，并深入了解这种环境中早产儿/足月儿差异的发展意义。
