Early predictors of language skills at 3 years of age vary based on diagnostic outcome: A baby siblings research consortium study.
Meredith Pecukonis, Gregory S Young, Jessica Brian and 11 others
PMID 35652157WHAT IT FOUND
For infants later diagnosed with autism, higher gesture scores at 12 months predicted lower language skills at 3 years, unlike in typically developing infants.
Maternal education strongly predicted language outcomes in the autism group, with those whose mothers had less than a college degree showing the lowest scores.
Key findings
01In infants later diagnosed with ASD, higher 12-month Late Gestures scores predicted lower 3-year overall language scores, whereas in infants without ASD the relationship was positive or null.
02Maternal education level significantly predicted 3-year language skills, but the pattern varied by diagnostic outcome: language scores increased with each education level in the LR-no ASD group, while in the ASD group, scores were significantly higher for those with college-educated mothers compared to those with less education.
0312-month Receptive and Expressive Language scores were significant predictors of 3-year language scores, but 12-month Early Gestures, Fine Motor, and Visual Reception scores did not significantly predict 3-year language outcomes after accounting for other variables.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a stepwise backward elimination procedure, which is exploratory and can be influenced by dataset idiosyncrasies. Important predictors of language such as imitation, joint attention, and play were not measured. The sample was predominantly high socioeconomic status (SES), with most mothers having at least a college degree, limiting generalizability to families with lower education levels. Maternal education was used as a proxy for SES, but household income and other environmental factors were not included. The negative association between Late Gestures and language in the ASD group was unexpected and may reflect measurement issues with parent-report tools or specific developmental trajectories in this group.
Declared interests
Tony Charman receives royalties from Sage Publications and Guilford Publications and consulting fees from Servier. Sara Jane Webb receives consulting fees from Janssen Research & Development, LLC. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that higher early gesture scores always predict better language outcomes in infants at risk for autism. In this study, infants who went on to have an ASD diagnosis showed a negative relationship between 12-month Late Gestures and 3-year language skills, meaning more complex gestures at 12 months were associated with poorer language at 3 years in this specific group.