McGillion, M, Davies, C orcid.org/0000-0001-9347-7905, Kong, SP et al. (2 more authors) (2023) Caregiver sensitivity supported young children’s vocabulary development during the Covid-19 UK lockdowns. Journal of Child Language. ISSN 0305-0009
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that caregivers’ sensitive, responsive interactions with young children can boost language development. We explored the association between caregivers’ sensitivity and the vocabulary development of their 8-to-36-month-olds during COVID-19 when family routines were unexpectedly disrupted. Measuring caregivers’ sensitivity from home interaction videos at three timepoints, we found that children who experienced more-sensitive concurrent interactions had higher receptive and expressive vocabularies (N=100). Children whose caregivers showed more-sensitive interactions at the beginning of the pandemic showed greater expressive vocabulary growth six (but not 12) months later (n=58). Significant associations with receptive vocabulary growth were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of sensitivity at a time when other positive influences on language development were compromised.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Interaction quality; vocabulary; Covid-19 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) > Linguistics & Phonetics (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) ES/V004085/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Mar 2023 14:56 |
Last Modified: | 12 May 2023 11:20 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0305000923000211 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196880 |