Do parent-reported early indicators predict later developmental language disorder? A Raine Study investigation.
Samuel D Calder, Mark Boyes, Christopher G Brennan-Jones and 3 others
PMID 37743609WHAT IT FOUND
Parent-reported early language concerns from ages 1 to 3 did not predict developmental language disorder at age 10 in 1626 children.
Concerns were common in typical children and absent in many children who later met criteria.
Key findings
01No single parent-reported early indicator from 1 to 3 years independently predicted DLD at 10 years.
02A cumulative index of parent concerns did not predict DLD; it accounted for 0.1% of the differences in DLD status and had an odds ratio of 0.95.
03The only significant indicator difference was babbling at or before 6 months, and it was in the opposite direction: fewer females with DLD had this concern than females without DLD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
DLD was identified only from test scores at age 10, not from early onset or functional impact, so the group may differ from children diagnosed clinically. Only 104 children met DLD criteria, and many parent-reported items had missing data, so some real associations could have been missed. Parent reports may be unreliable because parents may not recognise milestones or may not know their own childhood speech or language history. The sample came from one hospital in Western Australia and included children born between 1989 and 1991, so current services and populations may differ. In the Raine dataset, only two children meeting test criteria had been identified by a health professional at the 10-year follow-up, so test-defined DLD may not reflect referred clinical cases.
Declared interests
The authors declared no relevant conflicts of interest. The Raine Study has long-term NHMRC funding and core management funded by several universities and research foundations; author support included an NHMRC investigator grant and a WA Department of Health fellowship.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that early red flags are useless. The study found that parent-reported concerns from 1 to 3 years did not predict DLD at 10, so they should not be used alone to reassure or rule out disorder.