ERIC Number: EJ1120448
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Dec
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9630
EISSN: N/A
Stability of Core Language Skill across the First Decade of Life in Children at Biological and Social Risk
Bornstein, Marc H.; Hahn, Chun-Shin; Putnick, Diane L.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, v57 n12 p1434-1443 Dec 2016
Background: Command of language is a fundamental skill, a cornerstone of multiple cognitive and socioemotional aspects of development, and a necessary ingredient of successful adjustment and functioning in society. Little is known about the developmental stability of language in at-risk youth or which biological and social risk factors moderate stability. Methods: This four-wave 10-year prospective longitudinal study evaluated stability of core language skill in 1,780 children in varying categories of biological and social risk in a multiage, multidomain, multimeasure, and multireporter framework. Results: Structural equation modeling supported loadings of diverse age-appropriate measures of child language on single latent variables of core language skill at 15 and 25 months and 5 and 11 years, respectively. Core language skill was stable over the first decade of life; significant and comparable stability coefficients were obtained for children with diverse biological and social risks, including poor health, welfare status, teen motherhood, ethnicity, gender, birth order, and families that changed in income and maternal education over the study period; stability in language was strong even accounting for child nonverbal intelligence and social competence, maternal education and language, and the family home environment. Conclusions: Core language skill varies in stability with age but is robustly stable in children regardless of multiple biological and social risk factors.
Descriptors: Language Skills, At Risk Persons, Children, Child Development, Longitudinal Studies, Structural Equation Models, Nonverbal Ability, Interpersonal Competence, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Mothers, Family Environment, Age Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A