School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2024 Sep 18;33(5):2327-2343. doi: 10.1044/2024_AJSLP-23-00318. Epub 2024 Jul 9.
To understand how best to assess the language abilities of preterm-born children, this study: (a) compared preterm- and term-born children's language skills using standardized testing and language sample analysis (LSA), (b) investigated how executive function skills and the language sampling context respectively affect standardized test and LSA scores, and (c) examined the pattern of associations between standardized test and LSA scores among preterm-/term-born groups.
Twenty-five term-born and 23 preterm-born 2-year-old singletons were administered the language scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (receptive communication, expressive communication, language composite scores). Parent-child free-play recordings were used to quantify the (para)linguistic features of the children's speech. Executive function was measured via parent report.
The preterm-born group obtained significantly lower scores than the term-born group on all Bayley language measures (though differences were not consistently observed when using cutoff scores). Few preterm-term differences in LSA measures were found. The preterm-term differences in Bayley scores were not explained by between-group differences in executive function. Some preterm-term differences in LSA scores were moderated by the language sampling context. The preterm- and term-born groups exhibited different patterns of Bayley-LSA correlations.
Preterm language difficulties were more apparent on standardized test than LSA scores. Nonetheless, the Bayley-LSA correlations indicate that poor test performance (linked with preterm birth) is associated with functional communication difficulties. The discussion outlines the complementary utility of standardized tests and LSA while acknowledging the limited utility of cutoff scores and the confounding influence of the language sampling context.
为了更好地评估早产儿的语言能力，本研究：（a）通过标准化测试和语言样本分析（LSA）比较早产儿和足月儿的语言技能，（b）分别研究执行功能技能和语言取样环境如何影响标准化测试和 LSA 评分，以及（c）检查早产儿/足月儿组之间标准化测试和 LSA 评分之间的关联模式。
对 25 名足月和 23 名早产 2 岁的单胎婴儿进行了贝利婴幼儿发展量表第三版的语言量表测试（接受性沟通、表达性沟通、语言综合评分）。通过记录父母与孩子的自由游戏，量化了孩子语言的（副）语言特征。通过家长报告测量了执行功能。
早产儿组在所有贝利语言测试中得分明显低于足月儿组（尽管使用截断分数时并非始终观察到差异）。在 LSA 测量方面，早产儿与足月儿之间的差异很少。贝利评分中的早产儿与足月儿差异不能用组间执行功能差异来解释。LSA 评分中的一些早产儿与足月儿差异受语言取样环境的调节。早产儿和足月儿组在贝利- LSA 相关性方面表现出不同的模式。
标准化测试比 LSA 评分更能明显反映早产儿的语言困难。尽管如此，贝利- LSA 相关性表明，较差的测试表现（与早产有关）与功能性沟通困难有关。讨论概述了标准化测试和 LSA 的互补效用，同时承认了截断分数的有限效用和语言取样环境的混淆影响。
