About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 11. Language, Communication

Abstract

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Including diverse samples of children in developmental research necessitates a broader range of demographic data than is typically reported to contextualize results and inform generalizability (Singh et al., 2023). Emphasis is placed on considering the cultural relevance of demographic characteristics. We focus on socioeconomic status (SES) in our study of early conceptual vocabulary in a sample of English monolingual, Spanish monolingual, and Spanish-English bilingual children. SES influences resources and opportunities available (Hammer, 2023), which affects cognitive development and early language skills (Brito & Noble, 2014; Lecheile et al., 2020; Kluczniok & Mudiappa, 2019). Studies have investigated the influence of family structure variables (i.e., household size and adult-to-child ratio) on children’s vocabulary with mixed findings (Havron et al., 2022; Poudel et al., 2023). Household size may help clarify how a family’s income is distributed across individuals and adult-to-child ratio may help characterize how caregiving is distributed within the home. Put another way, household size refines SES directly whereas adult-to-child ratio contextualizes SES effects on the childrearing context. In our mixed sample, including cultures where shared living is common (Calzada et al., 2012), we anticipate family structure to reflect cultural variation within SES. We constructed an SES variable including household size, and modeled prediction from SES and adult-to-child ratio to conceptual vocabulary size. We anticipate that SES and adult-to-child ratio will be significantly related to vocabulary size and that SES and adult-to-child ratio will interact.
Participants are 70 typically developing children (31F, Mage=34.27mos, Range=18 to 60) and their caregivers. Language, health, household, and SES characteristics (income, education, and household size) were assessed via survey. Vocabulary was assessed using the Web-based Computerized Comprehension Task (Friend et al., 2023) and either the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Task (Martin & Brownell, 2011; Brownell, 2012) or the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Marchman et al., 2023). Raw scores were combined to form a language factor.
Two regression models were estimated. Model 1 assessed the contributions of SES and adult-to-child ratio to variance in conceptual vocabulary, controlling for age, sex, and birth order. Model 2 assessed the interaction of SES and adult-to-child ratio using the same control variables. In Model 1 (F5, 64=29.900, R2=.700, p<.0001), SES was positively related to vocabulary size (t=3.11, p=.003), indicating that children from higher SES homes tended to have larger vocabularies. Adult-to-child ratio did not significantly predict differences in vocabulary in this model (t=-.130, p=.895). However, Model 2 (F6,63=27.730, R2=.725, p<.0001) revealed a significant and positive interaction between SES and adult-to-child ratio (t=2.400, p=.019), indicating the effect SES has on vocabulary is more positive for children from homes with greater adult-to-child ratios and less positive for children from homes with lower adult-to-child-ratios.
Our study underscores the importance of considering family structure alongside SES when examining early language development. Future research should investigate how adult-to-child ratios within different SES contexts influence language outcomes and explore culturally relevant strategies to support families in optimizing opportunities for children.

Author information

Author	Role
Noemi A. Garcia, San Diego State University	Presenting author
Matthew McArthur, San Diego State University	Non-presenting author
Margaret Friend, San Diego State University	Non-presenting author
Melisa Gonzalez, San Diego State University	Non-presenting author

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