Abstract

HERNANDEZ-CASTRO, Rosendo  and  HERNANDEZ-POZO, María del Rocío. Changes in affective behavior among typical and delayed language children. J. behav. health soc. ISSUES [online]. 2011, vol.3, n.2, pp.77-88. ISSN 2007-0780.  https://doi.org/10.5460/jbhsi.v3.2.30222.

The affective dimension of behavior can be a facilitator or inhibitor factor of language development in infants. An observational longitudinal study was conducted with children at 24 and 30 months old in order to explore the relationship between affective behavior displayed in mother-child dyads and level of linguistic infant competence. Parental responses to the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Jackson-Maldonado et al., 2005) were used to classify level of linguistic competence of children. 14 dyads participated, of which 3 were in the delayed language group. Dyads were videotaped under free game situations at their homes, for 19-31 minutes. A taxonomy for affective behavior of each member of the dyad was used (Hernández & Cortés, 2009). Results showed that children in the delayed language group and their mothers displayed less positive affect and more negative affect at 24-months in comparison with the typical language group, and although at 30 months increased this behavior, continue to exhibit a smaller vocabulary than children of typical language.

Keywords : Affective behavior; mother-child dyads; children 24-36 months old; linguistic competence; observational records; language development.