Language barriers and mental health problems of preschool children born very preterm in Germany.
Julia Jaekel, Nils Jaekel, Christoph Härtel and 5 others
PMID 39431851WHAT IT FOUND
Children born very preterm whose first language is far from German had slightly higher behavioural and emotional problems at age 5.
Immigrant status alone was not linked to these problems. Language barriers, not migration background, appear to be the key factor.
Key findings
01Higher linguistic distance between a child's first language and German was associated with higher SDQ total scores, even after adjusting for confounders like maternal education and birth complications.
02Immigrant status, defined by the mother's country of birth, was not associated with higher behavioural and emotional problems.
03The association between linguistic distance and behavioural problems was attenuated when children's IQ scores were included in the analysis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 30% of the original cohort was followed up due to funding constraints, and the follow-up sample had higher rates of German ancestry and multiples. All assessments, including the SDQ and IQ tests, were administered only in German, which may have caused participation bias and response bias among non-German speaking families. Immigrant status was defined solely by the mother's country of birth, potentially misclassifying children with immigrant fathers. The study did not measure actual language proficiency in German or other languages, relying instead on a calculated 'linguistic distance' score. The effect of linguistic distance was attenuated when IQ was controlled for, and IQ tests were administered in German, which may have underestimated immigrant children's cognitive abilities.
Declared interests
None reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that language barriers directly cause behavioural problems. The study shows an association, and the effect was weakened when IQ was included. Furthermore, because all tests were given in German, the IQ scores of children with different first languages may have been underestimated, which could distort the relationship between language distance and behaviour.