Daily, consistent parental reading in the first year of life improves
infants' language scores

Date:
February 14, 2023
Source:
Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Summary:
Daily reading improved language development in infants 12 months
and younger, according to a recent study.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Daily reading improved language development in infants 12 months and
younger, according to a recent study by researchers at the Marshall
University Joan C.

Edwards School of Medicine.


==========================================================================
The study, which builds on well-established research of early language development in toddlers 12 months and older, found that the infants
who received consistent, daily reading of at least one book a day,
starting at two weeks of age, demonstrated improved language scores as
early as nine months of age. The findings were published in December
in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.

During the randomized study, parents/guardians were given a set of 20 children's books specifically chosen to support early language development
and interaction with print media. Enrolled families agreed to read at
least one book per day and have their infants tested with an expressive
and receptive language test at their well-child visits.

"One book each day is an easy goal for new families to try. To see that
there is a measurable improvement in speaking and understanding before
one year old is very exciting," said Adam M. Franks, M.D., professor of
family and community health at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
and corresponding author on the study.

In addition to Franks, physicians Callie Seaman, M.D., and William
Rollyson, M.D., and researcher Todd Davies, Ph.D., teamed with Emily
K. Franks, a speech- language pathologist, to co-author the article.

"While our team is excited about our findings, the real winners are
the participating children and families in this area that have been
benefited from the bonding experience of experiencing this co-reading
through their participation in the project," Franks said.

The authors hope to expand this research to assess the benefits in infants
of mothers with opioid use disorder who are suffering from withdrawal.

This work is supported by a rural research grant from the Robert C. Byrd
Center for Rural Health.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Mind_&_Brain
# Child_Development # Literacy # Language_Acquisition #
Infant_and_Preschool_Learning # Learning_Disorders #
Child_Psychology # Dyslexia # Parenting
* RELATED_TERMS
o Psycholinguistics o Dyslexia o Developmental_psychology o
Neural_development o Great_Ape_language o Social_cognition o
Asperger_syndrome o Psychology

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Marshall_University_Joan_C._Edwards_School_of_Medicine.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Adam M. Franks, Callie Seaman, Emily K. Franks, William Rollyson,
Todd
Davies. Parental Reading to Infants Improves Language Score: A Rural
Family Medicine Intervention. The Journal of the American Board of
Family Medicine, 2022; 35 (6): 1156 DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2022.220064R2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230214153903.htm

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