השפעת המיצב הסוציו-אקונומי על התפתחות ההפקה הקולית של תינוקות בשנה הראשונה לחיים

The development of typical language skills is crucial for a child's academic,social, and emotional functioning, as well as their future contributions to society as adults. The process of acquiring language begins in infancy and is influenced by the language input the child receives from their environment and by their vocal development (babbling). Research suggests that children growing up in low socioeconomic (L-SES) environments tend to have limited and lower-quality language interactions with their caregivers, which can result in delayed language development. Preliminary findings indicate that infants from low socioeconomic (L-SES) backgrounds exhibit a decrease in babbling and a delay in reaching the canonical babbling stage, characterized by the production of speech-like syllables, in comparison to infants from higher socioeconomic status backgrounds. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on vocal development across various stages. The participants included 44 infants aged four to 15months from two distressed neighborhoods in central Israel. These infants were reported to have no other risk factors for developmental delays except for their socioeconomic background, as noted by their daycare staff. The infants' vocal development was evaluated using the Production Infant Scale Evaluation (PRISE) questionnaire, which has been validated for use with hearing infants with typical development up to 14 months of age. Auditory perception development was assessed using the Hebrew Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (HITMAIS), a validated questionnaire for assessing hearing infants up to 18 months of age. Communication disorders clinicians administered the questionnaires at the infants' daycare centers, and the results were compared to the norms of their peers from medium-high SES backgrounds. The findings revealed that infants from low SES backgrounds had lower scores in vocal production compared to infants from medium-high SES backgrounds across all tested ages, indicating a persistent gap in vocal development. In contrast, the development of auditory perception was generally age-appropriate, which supports the validity of the questionnaires and the data collection process. These results highlight the influence of SES on vocal production and underscore the importance of early assessment for language development in infants from low SES backgrounds,starting in the first year of life. The identified gaps in vocal production skills among infants from low SES backgrounds emphasize the need for early intervention programs that encompass both direct treatments for language delays in infants and parent training focused on enhancing interactions with their children. The "Shoklim Milim" program (“The Weigh of Words”),conducted by the Department of Communication Disorders at Tel Aviv University, currently addresses these aspects. Moreover, the study's findings indicate the suitability of the PRISE questionnaire for evaluating pre-verbal vocal development in hearing infants from low socioeconomic backgrounds during the pre-linguistic stage.