Abstract : Very preterm birth affects language development. Recent studies have highlighted that these difficulties concern acquisition and consolidation of both lexicon and grammar, leaving open questions about differences in receptive and expressive skills. By contrast, very few studies have analyzed phonological skills at the end of preschool age. The aims of the present study were : a) to compare phonological, lexical and grammatical skills of very preterm children (gestational age <32 weeks) to those of typically developing children at age 5 focusing on possible differences in receptive and expressive skills ; b) to assess whether difficulties were specific or related to nonverbal cognitive development ; c) to analyze relationships among the above language skills. One hundred and six monolingual Italian children were assessed at age 5 (29 very preterm children compared to 77 typically developing children) with a standardized battery of language abilities (BVL 4-12, Marini et al. in press) and the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (Raven 1947 ; Italian version, Belacchi et al. 2008). Very preterm children showed difficulties in verbal auditory discrimination and lexical skills (lexical comprehension and naming) at age 5. Difficulties in receptive and expressive lexicon persisted when controlling for nonverbal cognitive development. The analysis of partial correlations showed similar patterns of relationships in preterm and typically developing children. The present study highlights the importance of analyzing both receptive and expressive language skills at the end of preschool in preterm children, in order to provide valuable insights for planning effective and targeted follow-up for these children.
Phonology, lexicon and grammar in very preterm children at 5 years
GUARINI, ANNALISA;SANSAVINI, ALESSANDRA;SAVINI, SILVIA;FALDELLA, GIACOMO;
2013
Abstract
Abstract : Very preterm birth affects language development. Recent studies have highlighted that these difficulties concern acquisition and consolidation of both lexicon and grammar, leaving open questions about differences in receptive and expressive skills. By contrast, very few studies have analyzed phonological skills at the end of preschool age. The aims of the present study were : a) to compare phonological, lexical and grammatical skills of very preterm children (gestational age <32 weeks) to those of typically developing children at age 5 focusing on possible differences in receptive and expressive skills ; b) to assess whether difficulties were specific or related to nonverbal cognitive development ; c) to analyze relationships among the above language skills. One hundred and six monolingual Italian children were assessed at age 5 (29 very preterm children compared to 77 typically developing children) with a standardized battery of language abilities (BVL 4-12, Marini et al. in press) and the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (Raven 1947 ; Italian version, Belacchi et al. 2008). Very preterm children showed difficulties in verbal auditory discrimination and lexical skills (lexical comprehension and naming) at age 5. Difficulties in receptive and expressive lexicon persisted when controlling for nonverbal cognitive development. The analysis of partial correlations showed similar patterns of relationships in preterm and typically developing children. The present study highlights the importance of analyzing both receptive and expressive language skills at the end of preschool in preterm children, in order to provide valuable insights for planning effective and targeted follow-up for these children.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
