# SES-Related Disparities in Early Language Development and Child Risk for Developmental Language Disorder

> **NIH NIH R01** · OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $195,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The goal of this study is to understand how the COVID-19 crisis, and related changes in
caregiver distress and interactions with infants, affects infant language development over a 12-
month period. We propose to gather repeated measures of survey and video-recorded
interaction data from a subsample (n = 100) of SMALL Talk caregiver-infant dyads during one-
year of the COVID-19 pandemic. SMALL Talk is actively recruiting and interviewing low-income
caregiver-infant dyads in an urban area to study predictors of children's risk of developmental
language disorder (DLD) by 54 months. DLD is particularly high among low-SES children
(Norbury et al., 2016). However, there are equally important inequalities for DLD risk among
low-SES children (Schwab & Lew-Williams, 2016), which may be further exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Through this supplemental project, we aim to assess, during one year of
the COVID-19 pandemic: (1) COVID-19-related forms and frequency of stress and resource
needs among low-income caregivers with infants; (2) caregiver-infant interactions with primary
and secondary caregivers at multiple, short-term intervals; and (3) how COVID-19-related
stressors, caregiver distress, and access to resources affect caregiver-infant interactions and
infant language development. We will use remote smart-phone based technology to gather on-
line survey data and video recordings of caregiver-infant interactions multiple times during this
one-year period. Innovative aspects of this supplemental grant include collecting multiple
caregiver-infant interactions, including secondary caregiver-infant interactions, and using smart-
phone technology to conduct in-home assessments among vulnerable groups who are often left
out of digital data collection studies, including COVID-19 studies (Lourenco & Tasimi, 2020). We
will use multi-level random-effects models to assess associations among caregiver distress,
features of caregiver-infant interactions (including language use and caregiving quality), and
infant language development. We will share this information with key stakeholders to inform the
development of programs and policies to meet immediate needs of low-income families with
infants. We will also publish rapid, open-access research articles and policy briefs to share
evidence of COVID-19-related instability and stress in low-income families and how they are
affect caregiver-infant interactions and child language development in the short- and long-term.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10177450
- **Project number:** 3R01DC018009-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura M. Justice
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $195,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10177450

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10177450, SES-Related Disparities in Early Language Development and Child Risk for Developmental Language Disorder (3R01DC018009-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10177450. Licensed CC0.

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