Socioeconomic disparities in early language development in two Norwegian samples

Socioeconomic disparities in early language are widespread and have long-lasting effects. The aim of this study is to investigate when social gaps in language problems arise and how they change across the first years of schooling. We address this question in two large longitudinal Norwegian datasets: the Behavior Outlook Norwegian Developmental Study (BONDS) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Despite some slight differences across the two samples, we found that children from higher social backgrounds are less likely to have language difficulties starting from age 18 months and up to age 8 (grade 2). Moreover, while early language problems are strongly predictive of later language, maternal education makes an additional contribution to explaining language difficulties at the beginning of school life. Social inequality in language development arises early, even in a country like Norway, with low unemployment and one of the most egalitarian societies in Europe.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Associations between language difficulties, peer victimization, and bully perpetration from 3 through 8 years of age : results From a population-based study

Background and Purpose: Schoolchildren with language difficulties experience more peer victimization compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. Whether these children also bully their peers (bully perpetration) more than TD children is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about peer victimization and bully perpetration among preschool children with language difficulties and how it may be related to different paths of language difficulties. This study aimed to investigate associations between language difficulties, peer victimization, and bully perpetration from preschool to school age as well as the risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration for children with different developmental paths of language difficulties and mild language difficulties compared to TD children. Method: The sample was drawn from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. Participants with completed questionnaires at 3, 5, and 8 years of age (n = 22,628) were included. Paths between latent variables of language skills at 3, 5, and 8 years of age, peer victimization at 5 and 8 years of age, and bully perpetration at 8 years of age were examined with structural equation modeling. Logistic regression was used to investigate peer victimization and bully perpetration for predefined paths of language difficulties. Results: Poor language skills at 3 and 5 years of age were associated with peer victimization at 5 years of age. Poor language skills at 5 and 8 years of age were associated with peer victimization and bully perpetration at 8 years of age. The association between poor language skills at 5 years of age and bully perpetration at 8 years of age was stronger for girls. Persistent paths of language difficulties at 3, 5, and 8 years of age showed the highest risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration. Conclusions: Language difficulties are associated with peer victimization and bully perpetration. The risk of peer victimization and bully perpetration differs according to different developmental paths of language difficulties from preschool to school age

Communication Impairments in Early Term and Late Preterm Children: A Prospective Cohort Study following Children to Age 36 Months

OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk of communication impairments at age 18 and 36 months in children born early term (gestational weeks 37-38) and late preterm (gestational weeks 34-36). STUDY DESIGN A total of 39 423 children and their mothers participated in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The sample included 7109 children (18%) born early term and 1673 (4.2%) born late preterm. Information on gestational age and prenatal and postnatal risk factors was obtained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Information on communication impairments was assessed using standardized questionnaires filled out by the mothers. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was applied to explore the associations between early term/late preterm birth and communication impairments at age 18 and 36 months. RESULTS Compared with children born at term, children born early term and late preterm had an increased risk of communication impairments at age 18 and 36 months. In early term, the aOR was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.12-1.44) at 18 months for communication impairments and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.07-1.39) at 36 months for expressive language impairments. In late preterm, the aOR was 1.74 (95% CI, 1.41-2.14) at 18 months and 1.37 (95% CI, 1.09-1.73) at 36 months. CONCLUSION Not only children born late preterm, but also those born early term, are at increased risk for communication impairments. Given the large number of children potentially affected, this may result in significant health care costs

Developmental Impairments in Children with Congenital Heart Defects: : A prospective case-cohort study

With the advances in congenital cardiac surgery and medical management in recent decades, mortality rates for congenital heart defects (CHD) have declined remarkably. As the number of CHD survivors has increased, there is a growing focus on developmental impairments. Developmental impairments within a variety of developmental domains have been reported in school-age children with CHD. Less is known about the occurrence and persistence of developmental impairments in early childhood in children with CHD. The aim of this dissertation was therefore to study developmental impairments during the first three years of life in children with CHD. For this purpose, data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, was linked with a nationwide medical CHD registry. Children with different severity of CHD were compared with children without CHD on developmental impairments in the motor, communication, and social domains. All information on child development was reported by mothers in MoBa questionnaires. For the age span under study we found important differences between children with CHD and the controls. In early infancy two groups stood out as being particularly at risk for developmental impairments: Children with severe CHD showed higher odds for impairments in gross and fine motor skills. Children with CHD and comorbidity showed developmental impairments across gross motor, fine motor, and social domains. At age 18 months the same two groups differed from controls in levels of symptoms of communication impairments and social impairments. The largest differences from controls were found in children with CHD and comorbidity. At 3 years of age children with severe CHD had higher odds of both gross motor and communication impairments compared with controls. Children with mild and moderate CHD had higher odds of gross motor impairments but did not otherwise differ from controls. Predictors of impairments identified in children with severe CHD were: previous developmental impairments, smaller head circumference at birth, small for gestational age, and maternal distress. These findings are important for our understanding of early development in children with CHD. They underline the importance of early attentiveness to developmental impairments and the importance of considering patient-specific conditions at birth for providing individualized, targeted therapeutic strategies that may improve developmental outcomes in children with CHD

The role of ECEC teachers for the long-term social and academic adjustment of children with early externalizing difficulties: a prospective cohort study

Using data from more than 7000 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child (MoBa) study, this study explored the role of school readiness and teacher–child closeness in the early child education and care (ECEC) setting for the prospective academic and social development of children with early externalizing problems. Mother, ECEC teachers, and schoolteacher ratings were applied. Latent moderated mediation analyses within a SEM framework were performed. Early externalizing problems at age three were associated with less school readiness at age five, but this association was weaker among children with closer teacher–child relationships. School readiness mediated the link from early externalizing problems to later academic and social adjustment difficulties, but this long-term indirect effect also decreased with increasing levels of teacher–child closeness. With regards to intervention efforts, the study demonstrates the potentially important role of ECEC teachers for the long-term social and academic adjustment of children with early externalizing problems

Associations between poor gross and fine motor skills in pre-school and peer victimization concurrently and longitudinally with follow-up in school age – results from a population-based study

Background Children with poor motor skills are at increased risk of peer victimization. However, it is unclear whether poor gross and fine motor skills are differently linked to peer victimization among pre-school and schoolchildren. Aims To investigate associations between poor gross and fine motor skills measured in pre-school and the associations to peer victimization measured concurrently and in school age. Sample Data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway were used. Participants with complete questionnaires at 3, 5, and 8 years (n = 23 215) were included. Methods A longitudinal design and an autoregressive cross-lagged model were used to investigate if poor gross and fine motor skills at 3 and 5 years predicted peer victimization at 5 and 8 years. Because emotional difficulties are associated with both motor skills and peer victimization, the results were adjusted for emotional difficulties. Results Only poor fine motor skills at 3 years had a significant association to peer victimization at 5 years. Poor gross motor skills at 5 years had a stronger association to peer victimization measured concurrently compared to poor fine motor skills, and only poor fine motor skills at 5 years was significantly linked to peer victimization at 8 years. No gender difference was found between these paths. Conclusions Teachers and parents should be aware that motor skills predict peer victimization, and that poor gross and fine motor skills have different associations to peer victimization measured at different ages

Children’s temperament moderates the long-term effects of pedagogical practices in ECEC on children’s externalising problems

In this study, we explored how free play and scaffolding practices in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) related to children’sexternalising problems both in ECEC and later in school.Furthermore, we aimed to reduce the knowledge gap of whether these relations depended on children’s differences in emotional temperament. We used structural equation modelling to analysedata from 7421 children from the Norwegian Mother, Father an dChild Cohort Study. Results indicated that more free playassociated with less externalising problems in ECEC for children ingeneral. For children with higher emotionality, more free playrelated to increased externalising problems in school. Scaffoldingin ECEC was not associated with externalising problems, butmoderated the longitudinal association of free play for children with higher emotionality. All children benefited from free play in ECEC for their concurrent mental health. However, for childrenwith higher emotionality, more free play in ECEC might be a riskfactor for reduced mental health in school, where there is lessfree play than in ECEC. More scaffolding in combination with freeplay in ECEC can reduce this risk. Further research should addressthe content of play and scaffolding practices in more detail

Language competence and communication skills in 3 year old children after prenatal exposure to analgesic opioids

Purpose An increasing consumption of opioids in the general population has been reported in several countries also among pregnant women. Limited information is available regarding the effect of prenatal exposure to analgesic opioids on long-term neurocognitive function in children. The primary aim of the study was to determine the association between prenatal exposure to analgesic opioids and language competence and communication skills at 3 years of age. Methods The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) prospectively included pregnant women during the period from 1999 to 2008. Participants reported medication use at pregnancy weeks 17–18 and 30, and 6 months after birth. Children's language competence and communication skills were reported by mothers on validated scales. Results A total of 45 211 women with 51 679 singleton pregnancies were included. The use of analgesic opioids was reported in 892 pregnancies (1.7%). In adjusted analyses, no association between opioid use and reduced language competence or communication skills was found, OR = 1.04 (95%CI: 0.89–1.22) and OR = 1.10 (95%CI: 0.95–1.27), respectively. Both pain and use of paracetamol were associated with a small reduction in communication skills. No such association was found for language competence. Conclusion The use of analgesic opioids in pregnant women does not seem to affect language development or communication skills in children at 3 years of age. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd