Associations among SES, Parent-child Interaction and Language Development at 12 Months

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic -Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Abstract

It has been well-documented that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with children’s early language development (Pace et al., 2017). Outside of distal factors like SES, parent-child interactions may provide proximal experiences to account for SES-related differences in children’s language outcomes. Although research has linked SES with parent-child interactions (Hoff et al., 2002) and parent-child interactions with child language outcomes (Tamis-LeMonda et al., 2014), studies investigating these three constructs in infants are sparse. The present study examined SES, parent-child interactions and language development in a sample of 54 twelve-month-old infants (67% male) and their mothers. Previous work in the same sample (Brito et al., 2020) found no significant associations between socioeconomic factors and infant language scores. However, it is possible that socioeconomic differences in parent-child interaction at 12 months may pre-date and predict disparities in language development. The present study thus examines links among socioeconomic disparities, parent-child interaction, and language development. Specifically, we hypothesized that (1) socioeconomic disparities in parent-child interaction would be present by 12 months, and (2) parent-child interactions would be associated with language development by 12 months.

Socioeconomic factors, including income-to-needs (ITN) and parental education, were collected via questionnaire. ITN was calculated by dividing reported annual family income by the federal poverty level for a family of that size in the year the family visited the lab. Parental education was calculated as the average years of educational attainment for all parents living in the home. Children’s language abilities were assessed by the Preschool Language Scale, Fifth edition (PLS-5), a normed and standardized instrument that assesses expressive (Expressive Communication; EC) and receptive (Auditory Comprehension; AC) language skills in children from birth to 7 years 11 months (Zimmerman, Steiner & Pond, 2011). Parent–child interactions were rated using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO; Roggman et al., 2013), which is a play-based observational measure of developmentally supportive parenting across four domains (affection, responsiveness, encouragement, and teaching). Total PICCOLO scores were computed by summing the four domains.

Results showed that PICCOLO scores at 12 months of age were significantly associated with parental education, and marginally significant with ITN, when controlling for infant age, infant sex, and parent age (ED: β = .373, p = .025; ITN: β = .280, p = .099). However, there were no significant associations between PICCOLO total scores and PLS scores (all ps > .280). Thus, while neither SES nor parenting behaviors were associated with infant language abilities, socioeconomic disparities in child-rearing behaviors may be present in the first year of life. Future longitudinal work with larger sample sizes should examine if environmental factors, such as SES or parenting behavior, experienced in the first year of life predict subsequent differences in language development.

Authors

• Yanbin Niu, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author

• Melissa A Giebler, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ben Bravo, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sonya V. Troller-Renfree, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kimberly G Noble, Teachers College, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Author