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Published on: April 19, 2017
Maternal Sensitivity and Language in Infancy Each Promotes Child Core Language Skill in Preschool
Marc H Bornstein1,2, Diane L Putnick1, Yvonne Bohr3
1Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.
None:
Supporting language skills in the early years is important because children who begin school with stronger language skills continue to perform well later in their language as well as academic and socioemotional growth. This three-wave longitudinal study of 50 mother-infant dyads reveals that maternal sensitivity and maternal language at 5 months each uniquely predicts child language at 49 months, controlling for age, education, and maternal verbal IQ as well as maternal supportive presence at 49 months. These findings reinforce the importance of maternal sensitivity and maternal language in infancy for child language development and specify that early maternal sensitivity and language, apart from maternal age, education, and IQ as well as later sensitivity, contribute to child language development.
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