NEONATAL PREDICTORS OF LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE

University Of Louisville, Louisville KY

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Abstract

If investigators could identify early in development a child's potential for language and cognitive disorders, interventions to correct such problems might be more successful. Ideal measures would permit assessments at birth when virtually total populations of infants are accessible in hospitals. Although there have been many attempts to predict preschool and later skills based on newborn measures, few have accomplished this goal. This proposal describes current findings from a longitudinal study which confirms and extends previous findings (Molfese & Molfese, 1985). Both prior and current findings document a strong relationship between newborn AERs to speech relevant stimuli and later language development. In the prior study, 78% Of variance was accounted by 5 AER components in predicting McCarthy verbal scores (F=6.9, p<.005) while 69% of variance was accounted for in predicting Peabody scores (F=4.43, p<.02). Current findings verify these initial results. The FIRST AIM extends the time period of the longitudinal study of age 8 years. Participants in the current study have stabilized to a reliable sample of 186 willing to continue with the testing program. Given this and the extensive data already collected, it is important to extend the goals of the project to determine the usefulness of the measures for predicting school achievement test scores, an important standard of 'functioning'. The SECOND Aim assesses the usefulness of data obtained after the newborn period for predicting later outcomes. For all participants yearly measures include AERs and other assessments. The aim is to analyze existing data in a template matching approach to determine the accuracy of data at each age for predicting outcomes. Maximum usefulness of the procedure will be realized if data obtained at all ages is found to be predictive. The THIRD AIM extends the current data set to include infants referred for assessment due to risk events. The value of our procedures must be evaluated by applying them to populations most likely to benefit. Referral subjects will be tested using study protocol and then retested yearly. The goal is to match AER and other assessment data to template data obtained from children with known outcomes so that predictions for referrals can be made and actual outcomes observed.