Emily Hansen, M.S., CF-SLP
Doctoral Student
Language Acquisition and Bilingualism (LAB) Laboratory
Communication Sciences and Disorders
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Role of Internalizing Behaviors in Language Growth for Late Talking Infants Born Preterm
Approximately 15% of toddlers can be characterized as late-talkers at age 2. Despite a largely unknown etiology, some characteristics of late-talkers have been identified, including increased rates of internalizing behaviors– i.e., behaviors that reflect negative emotions directed inward, resulting in social and emotional disturbances such as anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. This relationship has been attributed to the role of language in self-regulation and understanding of others’ emotions. Because preterm infants are at an increased risk of late language emergence, it may be especially informative to examine internalizing behaviors and their link to language outcomes in late-talkers who were born preterm. The current study examined the role of internalizing behaviors in predicting language outcomes from 24 to 36 months in a cohort of late-talking and non-late-talking preterm infants. Results revealed that internalizing behaviors at 24 months predicted expressive vocabulary growth from 24 to 36 months only in late-talking children born preterm. This finding suggests that mental health factors may be especially critical to language development in late-talking toddlers, indicating the need for interprofessional collaboration between SLPs and mental health professionals in serving this population.
This study was supported by NIH grants 1R01HD044163-01A1 and 5M01RR003186-19 awarded to Dr. Julie Poehlmann.