2016 Gatlinburg Conference Poster
PS-50
Title: Maternal Responsivity on Language Outcomes during a Language Intervention for Children with Developmental Delay
Authors: Nonyé Nwosu, MaryAnn Romski, Rose Sevcik
Introduction: Families of children with developmental delays and little functional speech may experience challenges
communicating with them and meeting their needs (Landry et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2011; Broberg, Ferm, & Thunberg, 2012).
Thus, communication difficulties have the potential to bi-directionally affect these relationships and the family structure (Landry
et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2011). Maternal responsivity is one aspect of parenting style that is critical to early child development,
in particular communication (Brady, Warren, & Sterling, 2009; Warren & Brady, 2007). It refers to the mother's emotional and
physical response to her child's needs. Furthermore, early language intervention provides a critical opportunity to assuage
communication difficulties that are necessary for development (Romski et al., 2010; Romski & Sevcik, 2005) and in turn
strengthen the caregiver-child relationship. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between maternal
responsivity and language outcomes in young children with significant developmental delays and fewer than 10 spoken words.
Methods: 62 toddlers with significant developmental delays and fewer than 10 spoken words and their mothers participated in
this study after a 24-session language intervention. The data for this secondary analysis are from a longitudinal study that
evaluated language outcomes after a parent-implemented augmented or spoken language intervention (Romski et al., 2010). We
expected that children of responsive mothers who attended to their child's needs, contingently and with positive affect, will have
greater language outcomes (target spoken and augmented vocabulary items) post-intervention than those whose mothers were
not as responsive (Brady, Warren, & Sterling, 2009). Maternal responsivity, from pre-intervention to post-intervention, will
moderate the relationship between children's expressive (spoken and augmented) language gains, calculated using transcripts
from intervention sessions. Furthermore, we expected that mothers across all intervention groups will become more responsive
from pre-intervention to post-intervention because of the skills acquired during the intervention process.
Results: Preliminary review of the data indicate that instances of maternal responsivity increased from pre- to post-intervention
and on average the instances of directive behaviors decreased. Mothers in the two Augmented interventions groups appeared to
be more responsive and less directive than those in the Spoken Communication intervention. Additional analyses will include an
analysis of variance (ANOVA) with one between groups factor (spoken, AC-I, AC-O) and one with-in groups factor (pre/post
intervention) to assess the differences in maternal responsivity from pre-intervention to post-intervention. As well, a correlation
between maternal responsivity and target expressive vocabulary, using the Pearson product-moment correlation (r) across
groups at pre- and post-intervention, provided information regarding the amount of variance in target expressive vocabulary
explained by maternal responsivity. These analyses provided additional information regarding any significant differences
amongst the three groups.
Discussion: Results will be discussed with respect to the aforementioned analyses to provide quantitative information about the
relationship between maternal responsivity and expressive target vocabulary over the duration of the intervention.
References/Citations:
• Brady, N., Warren, S.F., & Sterling, A. (2009). Interventions Aimed at Improving Child Language by Improving Maternal
Responsivity. International Review of Research in Mental Retardation, 37, 333-357.
• Broberg, M., Ferm, U., & Thunberg, G. (2012). Measuring Responsive Style in Parents who use AAC with their Children:
Development and Evaluation of a new Instrument. AAC: Augmentative & Alternative Communication, 28(4), 243-253.
• Romski, M., Sevcik, R., Adamson, L., Cheslock, M., Smith, A., Barker, R., & Bakeman, R. (2010). Randomized Comparison
of Augmented and Nonaugmented Language Interventions for Toddlers with Developmental Delays and Their Parents.
Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 53(2), 350-364.
• Warren, S.F., & Brady, N.C. (2007). The Role of Maternal Responsivity in the Development of Children with
Developmental Disabilities. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 13, 330-338.