Bavin E

Bretherton L

Cini E

Conway L

Cook F

Eadie P

McKean C

Mensah F

Prior M

Reilly S

Wake M

Objective: To examine at 7 years the language abilities of Australian children, the salience of early life factors and language scores as predictors of language outcome, and the co-occurrence of difficulties associated with low language. Methods: Design: Longitudinal cohort study of 1910 infants recruited at age 8-10 months. Exposures: Early life factors - Child gender, prematurity, birth weight/order, twin birth, socioeconomic status, non-English speaking background, family history of speech/language difficulties; Maternal - mental health, vocabulary, education, age; Child language – at ages 2 and 4 years. Outcomes: 7-year standardized language scores; low receptive and/or expressive language (scores ≥ 1.25 SD below the mean), co-occurring difficulties - autism, literacy, social, emotional and behavioural adjustment, and HRQL. Results: 227/1204 (18.9%) children who provided outcome data met criteria for low language. Early life factors explained 9-13% of variation in language scores, increasing to 39-58% when child language at ages 2 and 4 years were added. Together, early life factors moderately discriminated between children with and without low language (area under the curve: 0.68-0.72), strengthening to good discrimination with language scores at ages 2 and 4 (area under the curve: 0.85-0.94). Low language at age 7 was associated with concurrent difficulties in literacy, social-emotional and behavioural difficulties, and limitations in school and psychosocial functioning. Conclusions: Child language ability at 4 years was a more accurate predictor of low language at 7 than a range of early child, family and environmental factors. Low language at 7 years was associated with a higher prevalence of co-occurring difficultie

Newcastle University E-Prints

Language outcomes at 7 years: early predictors and co-occurring difficulties

Language outcomes at 7 years: early predictors and co-occurring difficulties

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