Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Poster #117 - The impact of mother’s institutionalization history on child language development: preliminary findings using LENA recordings

Fri, March 22, 2:30 to 3:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Institutional care is a common type of placement for children raised without biological families in a number of countries, including Russian Federation. Detrimental effects of institutional care (IC) have been well documented for different developmental stages. Studies show that children with IC history demonstrate delayed physical growth (Albers, Johnson, Hostetter, Iverson, & Miller, 1997; Pomerleau et al., 2005), deficits in cognitive (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2012; van Ijzendoorn, Juffer, & Poelhuis, 2005) and social-emotional development (St Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team, 2008). Adolescents exposed to IC exhibit externalizing behavior problems (Loman, Johnson, Quevedo, Lafavor, & Gunnar, 2014), are at a higher risk for academic problems (Vorria, Ntouma, & Rutter, 2014), and exhibit atypical brain functioning (Guler et al., 2012; Mehta et al., 2009). Long-term effects of IC placement are more scarcely represented in the literature. It has been shown that people in the age range of 45-73 years with a childhood history of IC placement report higher stress levels and somatic problems (Sigal, Perry, et al., 2003), as well as mental health issues (Fernandez, Lee, et al., 2017). To date only few studies have examined effects of institutionalization on parental behavior (Prisyazhnaya, 2007; Egorova & Mironova, 2012) and no studies have assessed cross-generational effects of IC history. In the present study we analyzed language development of children born to mothers with a history of institutionalization.
In order to assess language development of children we used LENA Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) technology (http://www.lenafoundation.org) and a Russian version of maximum performance testing Preschool Language Scales-5 (Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2011; Zhukova et al., 2016). LENA technology allows to record and track the number of words produced by the child and the adults she interacts with, along with the number of conversational turns (Sosa, 2015; Suskind et al., 2015). Data collection is still ongoing; therefore, only preliminary findings are presented below. To date data from 15 dyads were available for the analyses: 6 dyads in which mothers have experienced IC placement (Mage of children =37 months, SD = 18.6; 1 girl) and 9 dyads in which mothers were raised in biological families (Mage of children =36.3 months, SD = 16.2; 5 girls). In order to compare language environment of children raised by mothers with different childhood experience we used ANCOVA controlling for age and sex of children. We found a significant difference in the amount of adult word count, with IC mothers producing less words F(1,11)=4.607, p=.05 than the control group. No statistically significant differences were found between the amount of conversational turns and child vocalizations between the groups (p >.05). Preliminary data suggest that children raised by mothers with IC history might be exposed to impoverished linguistic input that can affect their language development.

Authors