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Early lexical development and risk of verbal and nonverbal cognitive delay at school age
Author(s) -
Ghassabian Akhgar,
Rescorla Leslie,
Henrichs Jens,
Jaddoe Vincent W,
Verhulst Frank C,
Tiemeier Henning
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.12449
Subject(s) - nonverbal communication , comprehension , vocabulary , language development , developmental psychology , cognition , psychology , intelligence quotient , vocabulary development , verbal reasoning , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , neuroscience
Aim To characterise the relationship between preschool lexical delay and language comprehension and nonverbal intelligence at school age. Methods The mothers of 2724 children completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory when their child reached 1.5 years and the Language Development Survey and the Parent Report of Children's Ability at 2.5 years. When the children were 6 years old, we assessed vocabulary comprehension and nonverbal intelligence using D utch batteries for language and nonverbal intelligence. Results Demographic factors explained 9.9% of the variance in vocabulary comprehension and 8.7% of the variance in nonverbal intelligence at 6 years. Male gender, low maternal education and non‐ W estern ethnic background predicted vocabulary comprehension delay at 6 years. Lexical development at 1.5 and 2.5 years explained only 3.8% of the variance in language comprehension at the age of six. Late onset expressive vocabulary delay increased the risk of language comprehension and nonverbal intelligence delay at 6 years ( OR =2.31, 95% CI : 1.62‐3.29 and OR =1.74, 95% CI : 1.17–2.58, respectively). Conclusion Sociodemographic factors are important predictors of delays in language and nonverbal abilities as children enter school. In contrast, early expressive lexical delays, in particular before the age of two, have limited predictive power for language delays at the age of six.