Books, Toys, Parent-Child Interaction, and Development in Young Latino Children

Tomopoulos, Suzy; Dreyer, Benard P.; Tamis-LeMonda, Catherine; Flynn, Virginia; Rovira, Irene; Tineo, Wendy; Mendelsohn, Alan L.

doi:10.1016/j.ambp.2005.10.001

« Previous Next »Ambulatory Pediatrics
Volume 6, Issue 2 , Pages 72-78, 1 March 2006

Books, Toys, Parent-Child Interaction, and Development in Young Latino Children

Presented in part at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, May 4, 2003, Seattle, Wash.

Suzy Tomopoulos, MD
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY
- Address correspondence to Suzy Tomopoulos, MD, New York University, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY
Benard P. Dreyer, MD
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY
Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, PhD
- New York University Steinhardt School of Education, Department of Applied Psychology, Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education, New York, NY
Virginia Flynn, MS
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY
Irene Rovira, PhD
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY
Wendy Tineo, PhD
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY
Alan L. Mendelsohn, MD
- New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, Department of Pediatrics, New York, NY

Received 20 October 2004; accepted 13 October 2005.

Objective

To describe the interrelationships between books and toys in the home, parent-child interaction, and child development at 21 months among low-income Latino children.

Methods

Latino mother-infant dyads enrolled in a level 1 nursery and infants were followed to 21 months. The subjects consisted of the control group of a larger intervention study. At 6 and 18 months, the number of books and toys in the home and the frequency of reading aloud were measured by the StimQ. At 21 months, child cognitive and language development and parent-child interaction were assessed by the Bayley Mental Development Index (MDI), the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3), and the Caregiver-Child Interaction Rating Scale, respectively. Eligibility for early intervention (EI) services was determined on the basis of the MDI and PLS-3.

Results

Data were obtained for 46 (63.0%) of 73 at 21 months. In multiple regression analysis, books provided at 18 months predicted both cognition (semipartial correlation [sr] = .49, P= .001) and receptive language (sr = .37, P= .02), whereas toys provided at both 6 and 18 months predicted 21-month receptive language (sr = .40, P= .01; sr = .32, P= .047, respectively). Reading aloud by parents ≥4 days a week was associated with decreased EI eligibility (adjusted odds ratio = 0.16, 95% confidence interval 0.03–0.99).

Conclusions

Reading aloud and provision of toys are associated with better child cognitive and language development as well as with decreased likelihood of EI eligibility.

Key words: children’s books , developmental outcomes , early childhood , parenting , play