Search Results (2)

Background: Early cognitive abilities such as memory and executive function (EF) emerge rapidly in infancy and may provide a foundation for later language development. However, large-scale longitudinal evidence linking early cognition to subsequent receptive and expressive outcomes remains limited. Methods: Data were drawn from 6652 children in the Kids in Taiwan (KIT) longitudinal database. Hierarchical regression models tested whether memory and EF at 12 months predicted language comprehension and expression at 24 months, and whether cognition at 24 months predicted outcomes at 36 months, controlling for parental education, involvement, responsiveness, child gender, temperament, and previous language ability. All language variables were standardized to ensure comparability across ages and to minimize potential floor or ceiling effects. Results: Early memory consistently predicted receptive and expressive language at 24 and 36 months, whereas EF predicted expressive language at 24 months and both receptive and expressive language at 36 months. The overall inclusion of cognitive variables significantly increased model fit (all ΔFs, p < 0.001), indicating that early cognitive functioning contributes uniquely to subsequent language development beyond language stability. Conclusions: Findings from this large community-based Taiwanese cohort highlight the importance of early cognitive abilities in supporting subsequent language growth. Incorporating assessments of memory and EF into early developmental monitoring may help identify children who would benefit from enriched language experiences or targeted educational support. Integrating assessments of memory and EF into early developmental screening and intervention programs may enhance the early identification of children at risk for delayed language development and guide the design of play-based activities that strengthen cognitive foundations for language. Full article

Parental psychological well-being is essential to the wellness of the family. However, longitudinal investigations into fathers’ postpartum depressed mood are limited. This study aimed to identify the typologies of depressed mood trajectories over the first year postpartum among Taiwanese fathers and to examine the factors associated with such typologies. We retrieved data from a nationwide longitudinal study on child development and care in Taiwan. A total of 396 fathers, who completed at least one of the three interviews when their children were 3, 6, and 12 months old between 2016 and 2017, were included in this analysis. Conditional latent class growth analysis was conducted to identify the classifications of the fathers’ depressed mood trajectories in the first year postpartum and to estimate the effects of covariates on individuals’ membership of a trajectory class. Three classes of depressed mood trajectories were identified. The high increasing group consisted of 11% of the participants; the moderate increasing and the low decreasing groups consisted of 28% and 61% of the participants, respectively. Financial stress was associated with the fathers’ likelihood of being in the high increasing group compared with their likelihood of being in the low decreasing group (OR = 2.28, CI = 1.16–4.47). The result may be related to the difference in gender roles and social expectations. Full article