Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Cincinnati, OH.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2024 Jul 3;33(4):2041-2050. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00179. Epub 2024 Apr 15.
Dyadic caregiver-child interactions are commonly used to examine children's language learning environments. However, children frequently interact with multiple caregivers and/or siblings if they come from homes with multiple caregivers and siblings. Thus, we examined if and how caregiver opportunities to respond (OTRs) varied when sampled across three interaction configurations.
Twelve children with Down syndrome ( = 40.82 months) and their biological parents participated in the current study. We collected separate mother-child and father-child dyadic interactions and one family choice interaction (i.e., both caregivers present and occasionally siblings) in families' homes. We analyzed if differences in the caregiver's OTR frequency and type-explicit and implicit-existed among dyadic and family choice configurations.
We found that, during family choice interactions, children were exposed to fewer OTRs when combining the total number of father and mother OTRs compared to dyadic caregiver-child interactions. This effect was large for explicit OTRs (mother-dyadic vs. combined family choice: = -1.99, confidence interval [CI] [-3.00, -1.00]; father-dyadic vs. combined family choice: = -0.84, CI [-1.84, -0.11]). For implicit OTRs, effects were small for mother-dyadic versus combined family choice ( = -0.34, CI [-1.17, 0.48]) and negligible when comparing father-dyadic with combined family choice ( = -0.08, CI [-0.90, 0.73]).
Our preliminary findings highlight the need for a more nuanced understanding of children's language learning environments to better understand how caregivers support their children's language development.
双人照护者-儿童互动通常用于研究儿童的语言学习环境。然而，如果儿童来自有多个照护者和/或兄弟姐妹的家庭，他们会经常与多个照护者和/或兄弟姐妹互动。因此，我们研究了当从三种互动配置中采样时，照护者反应机会（OTR）是否以及如何变化。
12 名患有唐氏综合征的儿童（平均年龄=40.82 个月）及其亲生父母参与了本研究。我们在家庭中收集了单独的母亲-儿童和父亲-儿童的双人互动以及一个家庭选择互动（即，两个照护者都在场，偶尔有兄弟姐妹）。我们分析了在双人互动和家庭选择配置中，照护者 OTR 频率和类型（显性和隐性）是否存在差异。
我们发现，在家庭选择互动中，与双人照护者-儿童互动相比，当将父母双方的 OTR 总数结合起来时，儿童接触到的 OTR 数量较少。这种影响在显性 OTR 中较大（母亲-双人与组合家庭选择：= -1.99，置信区间[CI] [-3.00，-1.00]；父亲-双人与组合家庭选择：= -0.84，CI [-1.84，-0.11]）。对于隐性 OTR，母亲-双人与组合家庭选择的影响较小（= -0.34，CI [-1.17，0.48]），而当比较父亲-双人与组合家庭选择时，影响可忽略不计（= -0.08，CI [-0.90，0.73]）。
我们的初步发现强调需要更细致地了解儿童的语言学习环境，以更好地理解照护者如何支持他们的孩子的语言发展。
