Maternal responsive behaviours and child language outcomes in a cohort of mothers and children facing adversity

ABSTRACT

Children facing adversity are at greater risk of experiencing language difficulties than their peers. This study aims to examine the association between specific maternal responsive behaviours at 24 months and language outcomes at the age of 5 years in a cohort of mothers and children facing adversity. Mother–child dyads (n = 138) facing adversity were observed and videoed at home at 24 months in mother–child free play. Four maternal responsive behaviours were coded from these videos: imitations, responsive questions, labels, and expansions. Child language was assessed using the CELF-4 at the age of 5 years. Linear regression was used to examine associations, in both adjusted and unadjusted models. In unadjusted models, imitations, responsive questions, and labels predicted better child language scores at age 5. Imitations continued to positively predict language scores after adjusting for confounding factors, including earlier communication skills. Findings demonstrate the importance of considering maternal responsive behaviours with respect to stages of child development.

KEYWORDS:

• Maternal responsive behaviours
• child language
• adversity

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and express their gratitude to all those involved in the right@home project. The data used in this article were provided by the right@home Consortium, comprising the Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Translational Research & Social Innovation (TReSI), School Of Nursing And Midwifery, Western Sydney University; and ARACY, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. Research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is supported by the 757 Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Charlotte Boulton

Charlotte Boulton is a speech pathologist, who completed her Master's degree in Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne in 2020. She currently works in a paediatric clinic and her interests are in language, literacy, speech sound disorder and AAC.

Penny Levickis

Penny Levickis is a senior research fellow in the Research in Effective Education in Early Childhood (REEaCh) Hub, in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research is characterised by interdisciplinary efforts to understand and support children's early learning and development across the home and early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. In particular, language learning through quality adult-child interactions and building partnerships between families and ECEC.

Tricia Eadie

Patricia Eadie is a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Director of the philanthropically funded REEaCh (Research in Effective Education in Early Childhood) Hub in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on better understanding and advancing young children's early learning experiences through professional learning that enables educators to implement high quality intentional teaching practices. Her work is characterised by multi-disciplinary efforts to understand young children's learning and developmental pathways from birth through preschool and building evidence for the role of education in overcoming the growing equity gap in Australian communities.