Högre seminarium: Denise Ollas-Skogster, Åbo Akademi

Abstract (engelska)

Infants enter the world with unique temperamental characteristics and interact with caregivers who differ in caregiving style. Together, these factors shape early experiences and provide the foundation for communicative development. However, little is known about how specific temperament traits, particularly in infancy, relate to early communicative development and how they interact with caregiving quality.

We have investigated the roles of infant temperament and caregiving quality, measured as emotional availability, in the development of preverbal and early language skills. The studies were based on data from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. Communicative and language skills were assessed during infancy and toddlerhood using parent-reported measures, while temperament was assessed through both parent reports and laboratory observations. Maternal emotional availability was evaluated through observations of mother–infant interactions.

Results showed that higher levels of parent-reported positive emotionality and self-regulation were associated with stronger communicative skills, particularly gesture use during infancy, and with larger reported vocabulary in toddlerhood. Negative emotionality was not associated with communicative outcomes. Higher caregiver emotional availability was linked to higher level of communicative skills, but no interaction effects between temperament and caregiving quality were observed. Furthermore, observed and parent-reported measures of temperament showed different patterns of association with communication development.

Overall, the findings suggest that positive emotionality, self-regulation, and emotionally available caregiving support early communication development, highlighting the importance of considering individual temperamental differences and emotionally available caregiving in early developmental support.

In future work, we will analyze associations between latent profiles of child temperament from 6 months to 5 years and language development from 1 to 9 years to investigate whether children with certain temperament profiles are more likely to belong to specific language development profiles. Additionally, latent profiles of maternal emotional availability during the child’s early years and child language development profiles will be analyzed.

Seminariet hålls på engelska och tolkas till svenskt teckenspråk.

Om Denise Ollas-Skogster