Associations Between Parent Mental State Language and Child Inhibitory Control in Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.
Holly C Lind-CombsRachael Frush HoltPublished in: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR (2022)
Parental use of cognitive mental state vocabulary models language around thought processes, and parents' use of first-person referents models "self-talk." Modeling of these linguistic forms is likely foundational for developing self-regulation. Children who are D/HH often experience reduced auditory access and/or language delays and thus rely on high-quality parental language input for longer periods of development than their TH peers. Continued support from interventionists is indicated to coach parents to be high-quality models of more abstract, decontextualized language, supporting complex language development and inhibitory control in children who are D/HH.