Leveraging technology to identify outcome measures for young children with Down syndrome

项目总结/摘要 患有唐氏综合症（DS）的儿童在沟通和语言方面存在明显的弱点 除了智力上的缺陷外，在这两方面都取得了重大进展 药物和行为干预与DS儿童，以支持他们的发展。因此， 迫切需要确定适当的结果措施，用于幼儿与DS。这些措施 已确定为学龄儿童，青少年和成人与DS。然而，可靠，有效 对于年龄较小的DS儿童（2-5岁），语言结果测量是不存在的， 研究人员和临床医生的任务，以有效地评估干预措施对幼儿的影响。这 年龄范围尤其重要，因为这是语言学习的基础时间，并为 在入学时取得学业和社会上的成功。因此，为了更好地服务于这一临床群体，我们 必须为患有DS的幼儿确定一套可行、可靠和有效的结果措施。本研究将 评估护理人员使用数字技术远程收集的语言样本的使用情况， 对幼儿的结果测量。研究有三个具体目标：1）确定可行性， 从两个技术支持的样本中得出的语言测量的可靠性： 录音和基于语言强化分析系统（LENA）的儿童与儿童互动，2） 确定儿童收集的视频记录和基于LENA的儿童与儿童互动的有效性 使用当前的黄金标准方法，包括标准化测试和考官与儿童的互动，以及3） 确定已知影响DS中语言的关键变量之间的关系（即，智力残疾 和可理解性）以及从儿童-儿童和基于LENA的交互中导出的变量。数据 收集将在参与者家中进行，包括两个时间点（间隔1个月）。的 将在没有检查员在场的情况下进行收集的数据和LENA记录。在每个时间点 研究小组将完成家访，以完成标准化评估和检查员-儿童语言 互动这种方法将使我们能够建立来自以下变量的心理测量适当性： 这些语言抽样方法，这些变量在1个月内的稳定性，以及它们是如何 受重要的儿童特征的影响。该项目的信息对临床有直接影响。 试验，包括药物和行为干预，研究范式集中在 了解DS儿童早期发育期间的语言发育，以及临床 为患有DS的幼儿提供的服务。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Children with Down syndrome (DS) experience significant weaknesses in communication and language development in addition to impairments in intellectual ability. There have been significant advances in both pharmacological and behavioral interventions for children with DS to support their development. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify appropriate outcome measures to use with young children with DS. Such measures have been identified for school-age children, adolescents, and adults with DS. However, reliable, and valid language outcome measures for younger children (2-5 years) with DS are nonexistent, leaving an impossible task for researchers and clinicians to effectively evaluate the effects of interventions for young children. This age range is particularly important, as it is a foundational time for language learning and sets the stage for success both academically and socially upon school entry. Therefore, to better serve this clinical group, we must identify a feasible, reliable, and valid set of outcome measures for young children with DS. This study will evaluate the use of language samples collected remotely by caregivers using digital technology to serve as outcome measures for young children. The study has three specific aims: 1) determine the feasibility and reliability of language measures derived from two technologically-supported samples: caregiver-collected video recordings and the Language ENvironment Analysis System (LENA)-based caregiver-child interactions, 2) determine the validity of the caregiver-collected video recordings and LENA-based caregiver-child interactions using current gold-standard approaches, including standardized tests and examiner-child interactions, and 3) determine the relationships between key variables known to impact language in DS (I.e., intellectual disability and intelligibility) and the variables derived from the caregiver-child and LENA-based interactions. Data collection will take place in the participants’ homes and will include two time points (1 month apart). The caregiver-collected and LENA recordings will take place without an examiner present. At each time point the study team will complete home visits to complete standardized assessments and an examiner-child language interaction. This method will allow us to establish the psychometric appropriateness of variables derived from these language sampling approaches, the stability of these variables over a 1-month period, and how they are influenced by important child characteristics. The information from this project has direct implications for clinical trials, including both pharmaceutical and behavioral interventions, research paradigms focused on understanding language development during the early years of development for children with DS, and clinical services offered to young children with DS.