Bilingual Exposure Following Preterm Birth: Toddler Language Outcomes and Cumulative Risk Factors

在美国，同时接触英语和西班牙语的儿童人数正在上升。双语博览会- 当然可以提供社会文化，经济和/或认知方面的好处，越来越多的研究表明， 双语接触不会对语言技能产生负面影响，即使是有语言困难风险的儿童， 关系的以前对高危儿童（极早产儿（VPT））的研究， 双语参与者或没有充分评估他们的语言技能。这引起了各方的关注， 研究者、临床医生和研究者对双语VPT幼儿的语言发展进行了研究。为了- 为了评估双语VPT幼儿的语言技能，拟议的研究将使用语言测量 评估两种语言的总词汇量，侧重于一般语言能力， 双语儿童。语言技能将在其他环境和神经的背景下考虑 因素，如语言暴露和神经可塑性的质量和数量。的中心假设 目前的研究是，神经可塑性使大脑能够适应双语环境，当控制 语言接触的质量和数量，双语接触不会对语言发展产生负面影响 早产之后。本项目的数据将从西班牙语-英语双语幼儿（n = 60）和 出生于VPT（<32周妊娠）的单语幼儿（n = 60）及其主要照顾者， 24个月大（调整早产），三个月和六个月后再次。家庭将被招募， 德州医疗中心的当地儿科诊所参与将发生在幼儿的家中， 时间点，并将包括家长问卷调查，家长与孩子互动的视频记录，和研究人员- 领导标准化语言评估。我们将比较双语和单语VPT幼儿在儿童语言- 语言结果（目标1）和儿童语言结果与累积风险因素（即， 语言暴露的质量和数量以及神经发育因素;目的2）。我们假设当 双语和单语VPT儿童的语言能力得到了适当的测量，双语VPT儿童 在语言能力方面，将与单语VPT儿童相若。我们还假设风险因素 对于双语者和单语者来说，语言困难的程度是相似的。如果我们的结果支持这些假设， 家长和临床医生可以放心，双语接触不会损害语言发展， VPT的诞生如果我们的结果不支持这些假设，我们将确定语言的具体差异 双语VPT幼儿与单语VPT幼儿的发展和危险因素比较。拟议的研究是 创新，因为它认为双语VPT儿童的独特发展，因为它使用贝叶斯- 一种分析方法，考虑双语和单语语言发展的证据强度 很相近似这项研究将通过提供父母和临床医生所需的知识产生积极的影响， 评估双语暴露对VPT幼儿的风险和益处。

The number of children in the U.S. who are exposed to both English and Spanish is on the rise. Bilingual expo- sure can provide sociocultural, economic, and/or cognitive benefits, and a growing body of research suggests that bilingual exposure does not negatively impact language skills, even for children at-risk for language difficul- ties. Previous research on a population of at-risk children, children born very preterm (VPT), has either excluded bilingual participants or has inadequately assessed their language skills. This has led to concerns among par- ents, clinicians, and researchers about the language development of bilingual VPT toddlers. In order to ade- quately assess the language skills of bilingual VPT toddlers, the proposed research will use language measures that assess total vocabulary across the two languages, focus on general language abilities, and were developed for bilingual children. Language skills will be considered in the context of other environmental and neurological factors, such as the quality and quantity of language exposure and neuroplasticity. The central hypothesis of the current study is that neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt to a bilingual environment, and when controlling for quality and quantity of language exposure, bilingual exposure does not negatively impact language development following preterm birth. Data for this project will be collected from Spanish-English bilingual toddlers (n = 60) and monolingual (n = 60) toddlers born VPT (<32wks gestation) and their primary caregivers when the toddlers are 24-months-old (adjusted for prematurity) and again three and six months later. Families will be recruited from local pediatric clinics in the Texas Medical Center. Participation will take place in the toddler’s home at each timepoint and will include parent questionnaires, a video recording of a parent-child interaction, and a researcher- led standardized language assessment. We will compare bilingual and monolingual VPT toddlers on child lan- guage outcomes (Aim 1) and the relationship between child language outcomes and cumulative risk factors (i.e., quality and quantity of language exposure and neurodevelopmental factors; Aim 2). We hypothesize that when language abilities of bilingual and monolingual VPT children are measured appropriately, bilingual VPT children will be comparable to monolingual VPT children in their language abilities. We also hypothesize that risk factors for language difficulties will be similar for bilinguals and monolinguals. If our results support these hypotheses, parents and clinicians can rest assured that bilingual exposure is not detrimental to language development fol- lowing VPT birth. If our results do not support these hypotheses, we will identify specific differences in language development and risk factors for bilingual compared to monolingual VPT toddlers. The proposed research is innovative because it considers the unique development of bilingual VPT children and because it uses a Bayes- ian analysis approach to consider the strength of evidence that bilingual and monolingual language development is similar. This research will have a positive impact by providing the knowledge parents and clinicians require to evaluate the risks and benefits of bilingual exposure for VPT toddlers.