The development and predictive value of gestures in very-low-birth-weight children: A longitudinal study

Abstract

The present study analysed the development of gestures between 0;9-1;3 years, and the predictive value of this development for language skills at 2;0 in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) children. Participants were 32 VLBW children and their 35 controls. The data on gestures was gathered using the Finnish version of the Communicative Development Inventory (FinCDI). At 2;0, the language skills of the children were assessed using the Reynell Developmental Language Scales (RDLS III) and the FinCDI. The number of acquired gestures was lower in the VLBW children than in the controls. The development of gestures correlated significantly with later expressive language in both groups, but significant correlations between the development of gestures and later receptive language development were detected only in the VLBW group. When the predictive value of gestures and early expressive and receptive lexicon with regard to later language skills were analysed, the development of gestures at 1;3 had good predictive value for poor language performance at 2;0. In addition, a small receptive lexicon size at 1;0 and at 1;3 was also a good predictor for later language performance. The development of gestures and receptive lexicon thus jointly provide clinically valuable information on the emerging language skills of VLBW children.

Do the early development of gestures and receptive and expressive language predict language skills at 5;0 in prematurely born very-low-birth-weight children?

“…The predictive value of early gestures and a receptive lexicon has been the subject of few studies and only up to the age 2;0/2;6 years in preterm children thus far (Perez-Pereira et al, 2014;Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014). Receptive and expressive lexical skills at 1;0, and receptive and expressive lexical skills and the development of gestures at 1;6, were all significant predictors for expressive lexical competence at 2;0 in a recent Italian study (Sansavini et al, 2011;104 very preterm children, 20 full-term controls).…”

“…In addition, the receptive lexicon develops actively at this age (e.g. Fenson et al, 1994; in Finnish children: Lyytinen, 1999;Stolt, Haataja, Lapinleimu, & Lehtonen, 2009a;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014). Preterm children have been shown to acquire their early gestures at a slower pace than full-term children (Ortiz-Mantilla, Choudhury, Leevers, & Benasich, 2008;Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014), and the difference between groups of preterm and full-term children has been shown to increase as children grow (Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014).…”

“…Fenson et al, 1994; in Finnish children: Lyytinen, 1999;Stolt, Haataja, Lapinleimu, & Lehtonen, 2009a;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014). Preterm children have been shown to acquire their early gestures at a slower pace than full-term children (Ortiz-Mantilla, Choudhury, Leevers, & Benasich, 2008;Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014), and the difference between groups of preterm and full-term children has been shown to increase as children grow (Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt, Mäkilä et al, 2014). Furthermore, the early receptive lexicon has also been reported to develop more slowly in preterm children than in controls (Ortiz-Mantilla et al, 2008;Sansavini et al, 2011;Stolt et al, 2009a), although there are also studies which do not find a significant difference between groups of preterm and full-term children in this development (e.g.…”

Interpretação de ambiguidades de escolares de Embu das Artes (SP) nascidos com baixo peso

“…Another study (11) underscored the difficulty of individuals in accessing both meanings of homonymous words, which led them to verbally express only one of the meanings, that is, the one that was activated first, probably the most familiar. Studies addressing the relationship between semantic networks for the lexical access in the task of detection of ambiguities (13,14) and in the restrictions of the lexical process assigned to semantic features (14) have demonstrated that individuals born with low weight may present, later in life, semantic difficulties in receptive vocabulary (17) , differences in expressive language (18) , and deficits in semantic verbal fluency (19) , which would explain their difficulty in verbally expressing the ambiguous meanings of words given in oral sentences, observed in our SG. However, in the present study, we also observed that, regarding the score Number of Pictures (Table 1), the difference between the groups disappeared, that is, the groups presented equivalent results with the use of the visual facilitator.…”

Patterns of early lexical and gestural development in children with Williams syndrome.

“…To date, studies have analyzed the predictive validity of early language and gestural abilities for later language and intellectual abilities in various groups of children, including late talkers (Rescorla, 2003), preterm infants (Luu et al, 2009;Perez-Pereira, Fernandez, Gomez-Taibo, & Resches, 2014;Stolt et al, 2014) …”