Understanding how language and reading problems develop: a population-based longitudinal study from infancy to age 7

早期语言和阅读问题是常见的，因此是重大的公共健康问题。它们会致残，并对口头和书面沟通技能、社交和情感健康、认知、行为、学业成就和就业产生终身影响。本研究将解决以下三个问题：1。到目前为止，还没有研究记录语言和阅读问题是如何从婴儿期（8个月）发展到学龄期（7岁）的。2. 我们对在婴儿期和儿童期早期发现的风险因素知之甚少，这些因素可以可靠地用于预测儿童后期的语言和阅读问题。3. 人们对语言困难和阅读问题之间的关系了解甚少。因此，我们目前还没有令人满意的方法来可靠地检测哪些年龄更小的孩子有日后语言障碍或阅读问题的风险。没有这些信息，就不可能制定有效的预防和早期干预方案。如果我们要：a)防止语言和阅读问题的发生，从而减少问题的普遍性；b)在儿童早期进行干预，从而从长远来看减少与语言和阅读问题相关的负担和成本，这些项目至关重要。拟议的研究建立在NHMRC在维多利亚早期语言研究（ELVS）中现有的大量投资的基础上。它将提供一个世界上第一个描述语言困难和阅读问题的演变，从婴儿期到学龄，在一个单一的人口队列。

Early language and reading problems are common and therefore significant public health problems. They are disabling and have life-long implications for oral and written communication skills, social and emotional well-being, cognition, behaviour, academic achievement and employment. This study will address the following three problems: 1. To date no study has documented how language and reading problems develop from infancy (8 months) through to school age (7 years). 2. Little is known about risk factors, identified early in infancy and childhood, that can be reliably used to predict language and reading problems later in childhood. 3. The relationships between language difficulties and reading problems are poorly understood. Therefore, we currently have no satisfactory methods for reliably detecting which children at much younger ages are at risk of later language disorders or reading problems. Without this information it is impossible to develop effective prevention and early intervention programs. These programs are critical if we are to: a) Prevent language and reading problems from occurring, thereby reducing the prevalence of the problem b) Intervene early in childhood, thereby reducing in the longer term the burden and cost associated with language and reading problems. The proposed study builds on an existing substantial investment by the NHMRC in the Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS). It will provide a world-first description of the evolution of language difficulties and reading problems from infancy through to school age within a single population cohort.