Influence of maternal age on infant home language environment
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Date
2016
Authors
McDivitt, Karmen Elizabeth
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Abstract
The present study examined the influence of maternal age on infant home language environment, focusing on the environments of children born to young mothers using a naturalistic, comprehensive data collection technique. Our sample consisted of 30 mother-child pairs, between the ages of 15 and 21 years old. The current study used the LENA (LENA Research Foundation, 2011) digital processor and software to record and analyze recordings from each parent. Child language development and maternal knowledge of infant development were analyzed. We found that our sample of young mothers knows less about general infant knowledge compared to a normative general sample. We also found that our young mother sample performed similarly to a low SES sample of mothers on general infant development knowledge. Our results may provide support for the connection between knowledge of infant development in mothers leading to positive results in the form of language skills in their child.
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Keywords
Language development, Language environment, Adolescent mother