Temperament and language development in preterm children

PÉREZ PEREIRA, M.; FERNÁNDEZ, P.; GÓMEZ TAIBO, M.; RESCHES, M.

Braga

Congreso; 17th European Conference on Developmental Psychology; 2015

Universidad do Minho

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between temperament characteristics and language development in preterm (PR) and full-term children (FT). There is evidence of some significant differences between PR and FT children in relation to temperamental characteristics, positive emotional response and self-regulation mechanisms in particular (Sajaniemi et al., 2001; Rothbart, Ellis, Rueda & Posner, 2003), which may have consequences on language development.The participants were 142 low risk PR children (mean gestational age (GA): 32.60 weeks) and 49 FT children (mean GA 39.84 weeks). The temperament of the children was assessed at 10 months of age through the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R). At 22 months of age the cognitive development of the children was assessed through the Spanish adaptation of the Batelle Developmental Inventory (BDI). In order to assess the children´s language development the Galician adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates CDI was applied. In addition, socio-demographic information about the children and their families was gathered at birth. The results indicate that the only differences found between the PR and the FT children in the significant differences in the language measures of interest (word production, MLU and sentences complexity) between groups. Hierarchical regression analyses performed indicate that GA did not have any predictive effect on language measures taken at 30 months. Cognitive scores were the strongest predictor of language measures, although certain temperament subscales contributed in a significant way to the variance of language measures, particularly low intensity pleasure (although the relationship is negative), approach, high intensity pleasure, and smiling and laughter. Therefore, extroverted (positive affectivity) temperamental characteristics seem to be beneficial for language development.