Poster #43 - Child biological stress and maternal caregiving style are associated with receptive vocabulary in early childhood.

• In Event: Poster Session 15

Abstract

Receptive vocabulary, or the ability to recognize and understand words, develops rapidly in early childhood and serves as a foundation for future language acquisition and literacy. A child's environment and biological stress levels are critical for developing receptive vocabulary. However, understanding which environmental and biological stress factors uniquely predict receptive vocabulary can inform language interventions in early childhood. The present study investigated correlates and unique contributors to receptive vocabulary, including socioeconomic status, maternal caregiving style, hair cortisol as an index of chronic stress, and diurnal salivary cortisol slope as an index of daily stress.

Ninety-one preschoolers (45 female, M=42.467 months, SD=1.519 years) and their mothers participated in the present study. Children completed the NIH Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (PVT). Mother-child interactions were coded using the Emotional Availability Scales (Pipp-Siegel & Biringen, 1998) and mothers collected at-home salivary cortisol samples across three days. Hair cortisol samples were taken during an in-lab visit.

Higher levels of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), indicating higher cumulative biological stress, were related to lower receptive vocabulary scores (r (72) = -.361, p = .002). A flatter diurnal cortisol slope, indicating poor stress regulation, also related to lower receptive vocabulary scores (r (66) = -.323, p =.008). Several measures of socioeconomic status and maternal caregiving style related to receptive vocabulary (Table 1; p's = 0.001 – 0.011). When controlling for racial group and bilingual status, a stepwise linear regression showed that higher parental education β = .421, p < .001, and better maternal structuring, β = .228, p = .022, uniquely contributed to receptive vocabulary. When HCC and diurnal cortisol slope were added as an additional block in the model, it did not explain any additional variance in receptive vocabulary.

These findings provide important evidence that multiple measures of physiological dysregulation relate to a child's receptive vocabulary. Parental education, indexed by having a college degree or not, uniquely contributed to receptive vocabulary above and beyond all other related SES factors. More highly educated parents may interact in a more didactic fashion with their children. Maternal structuring was also found to uniquely relate to receptive vocabulary. Better maternal structuring may support language development by providing the child a richer language environment and/or by mechanistically supporting cognitive development overall. These results indicate the importance of buffering children from biological stress and highlight the need for sensitive caregiving and structuring by parents.
 

Authors

• Arcadia Ewell, Boston University
  Presenting Author

• Katie Kao

• Charu Tuladhar, Boston University

• Jerrold Meyer, UMass-Amherst

• Amanda R Tarullo, Boston University