Differential effects of gender and ethnicity on children’s receptive language scores after a Canadian two-generation preschool program: follow-up to adolescence

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of measures.

Scale/Variable	Description
PPVT-III (Dunn & Dunn, 1997)	Observational screening assessment of English receptive vocabulary in individuals over the age of 2 years. Typically, 69 items depending on critical range. Standardized scoring with mean = 100 and standard deviation ±15; higher scores mean greater receptive vocabulary skill. Internal consistency reliability ranges from .61 to .88. PPVT-III scores are correlated with the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities. Takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete. We used continuous scores measured at: (a) program intake, (b) program exit, (c) age 7 years, (d) age 10 years, and (e) late adolescence.
Time	Coded as 0 = program intake (reference category); 1 = program exit; 2 = age 7 years; 3 = age 10 years; 4 = late adolescence.
At Intake, caregiver-reported ethnicity	Coded as 1 = Indigenous; 2 = Canadian-born; 3 = Immigrant in last 10 years (reference category).
At Intake, caregiver age	Continuous variable.
At Intake, language spoken at home	Coded as 0 = not English; 1 = English.
At Intake, caregiver partnered	Coded as 0 = no; 1 = yes.
At Intake, child gender	Coded as 0 = boy; 1 = girl, as reported by caregiver.
At Intake, food insecurity	In the last 3 months, caregiver visited the food bank, ate a no cost meal, or received a food voucher coded as 0 = no; 1 = yes.
At Intake, caregiver involved with CWS for program child	Coded as 0 = no; 1 = yes.
At Time 4, caregiver Adverse Childhood Experiences (Felitti et al., 1998)	10-item self-report of exposures to abuse and neglect (psychological, physical, and sexual) and household dysfunction (substance abuse, mental health problems, violent treatment of mother, and criminal behaviour) before the respondent’s 18th birthday. The number of ‘yes’ responses are summed; higher scores indicate greater exposure to adversity in childhood. ACE scores ≥ 4 are associated with poor mental and physical health in adulthood (Anda et al., 2006; Felitti et al., 1998). Test-retest reliability kappa co-efficient ranged from .52 to .72 suggesting temporal stability of scores. The ACE Questionnaire takes 5 min to complete. Coded as 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 + .
At late Adolescence, CWS file still open	Coded as 0 = no; 1 = yes.

PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third Edition. ACE = adverse childhood experiences. CWS = child welfare services.

Table 2. Characteristics of children and caregivers at program intake for full sample and by ethnicity

	Full Sample		Indigenous		Canadian		Immigrant
	N	Frequency (%)	n	Frequency (%)	n	Frequency (%)	n	Frequency (%)
Child
Gender (% boys)	55	26 (47.3)	12	6 (50.0)	21	9 (42.9)	22	11 (50.0)
Caregiver
Relationship status (% partnered)	40	22 (55.0)	8	3 (37.5)	17	7 (41.2)	15	12 (80.0)
Education (% with high school)	41	27 (65.9)	9	4 (44.4)	17	12 (70.6)	15	11 (73.3)
Language spoken at home (% English)	42	25 (59.5)	10	10 (100.0)	17	12 (70.6)	15	3 (20.0)
Food insecurity (% yes)	40	19 (47.5)	9	6 (66.7)	16	7 (43.8)	15	6 (40.0)
As child, involved with CWS (% yes)	40	11 (27.5)	9	7 (77.8)	17	4 (23.5)	14	0 (0.0)
As caregiver, involved with CWS (% yes)	40	13 (32.5)	9	5 (55.6)	17	8 (47.1)	14	0 (0.0)
If yes, file still open (% yes)	13	5 (38.5)	5	3 (60.0)	8	2 (25.0)	-	-

CWS = Child Welfare Services.

Figure 1. Average PPVT-III scores between intake and adolescence for all children and by child gender.

PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third Edition.

Figure 2. Average PPVT-III scores between intake and adolescence for all children and by ethnicity.

PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third Edition.

Table 3. Bivariate correlations between average PPVT-III scores between intake and late adolescence and variables considered for inclusion in the final model

	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
1. PPVT-III Intake	.771**	.687**	.583**	.349*	.389**	.299*	−.395**	.198	−.180	.434**	.244	−.023	.328*	.129	−.069
2. PPVT-III Exit	-	.753**	.741**	.608**	.502**	.246	−.452**	.212	−.143	.437**	.443**	−.036	.340*	−.149	−.238
3. PPVT-III Age 7		-	.725**	.567**	.686**	.181	−.525**	.229	−.198	.351*	.214	.080	.498**	−.091	−.208
4. PPVT-III Age 10			-	.714**	.497**	.460**	−.283	.336*	−.058	.180	.280	−.030	.298	.137	−.041
5. PPVT-III Adolescence				-	.281	.327*	−.357*	.102	.024	.252	.134	−.108	.205	−.041	−.130
6. Caregiver ACE					-	−.026	−.652**	.109	−.486**	−.505**	.390*	.531**	.488**	.059	−.142
7. Caregiver Age						-	−.068	.403**	.339*	−.384**	−.199	−.350*	−.117	.196	−.155
8. Caregiver Partnered							-	.023	.334*	−.443**	−.286*	−.242	−.666**	.021	.161
9. Highschool								-	.077	−.045	.158	.024	−.039	.249	−.015
10. Ethnicity									-	.654**	−.299*	−.664**	−.428**	−.017	−.013
11. English at home	.									-	.407**	.520**	−.445**	−.104	−.025
12. Food insecure											-	.320*	.274	−.050	−.216
13. CWS for Caregiver												-	.150	.010	.111
14. CWS for Child													-	.108	−.197
15. Child Age														-	−.029
16. Child Gender															-

PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third Edition. ACE = Adverse Childhood Experience score; CWS = Child Welfare Services. N = 55 children; N = 41 caregivers. *p < .05. **p < .01.

Table 4. Mixed-effects model showing association between the PPVT-III scores at adolescence and other variables

Variable	Coefficient	SE	p value	95% CI
Caregiver Age at Intake	0.99	0.23	<.001	0.54, 1.43
Caregiver Partnered at Intake
No	Reference
Yes	−1.83	3.62	.61	−8.93, 5.27
English primary language
No	Reference
Yes	9.40	3.26	.004	3.01, 15.79
Caregiver ACE score	0.97	0.48	.04	0.04, 1.90
CWS as Caregiver at Intake
No	Reference
Yes	6.09	3.80	.11	−1.36, 13.53
Culture x Child Gender
Immigrant x boy	Reference
Immigrant x girl	−7.15	3.51	.04	−14.02, −0.28
Indigenous x boy	−11.94	4.88	.01	−21.51, −2.38
Indigenous x girl	−8.15	4.98	.10	−17.91, 1.61
Other-Canadian born x boy	−6.56	4.02	.10	−14.44, 1.32
Other-Canadian born x girl	−4.59	3.64	.21	−11.72, 2.54

PPVT-III = Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – Third Edition; ACE = Adverse Childhood Experience; CWS = Child Welfare Services. SE = Standard Error; CI = Confidence Interval.

Dunn, L. M., & Dunn, L. M.(1997). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test – manual (3rd ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Services.

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Data availability statement

Data are available from the first author upon reasonable request from qualified researchers.

This study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The Conjoint Health Research Ethics Board at the University of Calgary (REB13–0750) approved the study. Written, informed consent was obtained from parents or legal guardians of children, which included consent to publish aggregated data.