Early parental responsiveness in relation to child language development: a systematic review and conceptual framework

Abstract

Background Parental responsiveness and directivenesss, (PRD) to infants’ and toddlers’ communicative and exploratory acts can facilitate or limit child language development; skills which are critically important to success throughout life. The association between PRD and language development has been researched over decades, and translating this research knowledge into practice will help to reduce the rates of childhood language delay/disorder. However, it is difficult to distil the effects of PRD on child language development, due to the richness and diversity of PRD conceptualisation and measurement across the empirical research. Aims and Method This thesis sets out to investigate the association between a specific description of PRD, Contingent Responsiveness (CR), and children’s language development via systematic review methodology, including two meta-analyses. In order to achieve this aim, a conceptual framework was developed, and offers a new perspective and clarity to understanding the complex PRD construct. The conceptual framework vitally informed and justified adaptations to an original systematic review protocol, enabling a meaningful systematic review of CR in relation to a variety of children’s language outcomes. Results Results from the systematic review suggest an overall moderate to strong, positive, and statistically significant association between CR and child language; results from meta-analyses indicates statistically significant associations between parents’ CR and children’s expressive and receptive vocabulary status (pooled effect sizes: SMD = .81, p = .01; r = .22, p = .001, respectively), and narrative syntheses support associations between CR and early vocalizations, attention, and expressive and receptive vocabulary and syntax. Information was limited for associations with pragmatics and phonological awareness. Conclusions This thesis provides greater confidence in the association between parental CR and children’s pre-linguistic and linguistic development, based on research synthesis that was supported by a clear conceptualisation of PRD. This research can be used to inform practice and policy regarding the parent’s role in facilitating children’s language development.