Blood lead levels and longitudinal language outcomes in children from 4 to 12 years

ABSTRACT

METHODS: The participants (N = 278) were a subsample of a large longitudinal study that examined the association of prenatal drug exposure on children who were followed prospectively from birth and assessed for receptive and expressive language skills at 4, 6, 10 and 12 years of age. Blood lead levels were determined at 4-years of age by atomic absorption spectrometry. A mixed model approach with restricted maximum likelihood procedures was used to assess the association of lead on language outcomes.

RESULTS: Longitudinal mixed model analyses suggested a negative effect of lead exposure on both receptive and expressive language, with the adverse outcomes of lead exposure appearing to become more prominent at 10 and 12 years. Higher caregiver vocabulary was positively associated with child’s language scores whereas caregiver psychological distress appeared to negatively affect language scores. Prenatal drug exposure was not related to the effects of lead on language skills.

CITATION

Lewis, B.A., Minnes, S., Min. M.O., Short, E.J., Wu, M., Lang, A., Weishampel, P. & Singer, L.T. (2018). Blood lead levels and longitudinal language outcomes in children from 4 to 12 years. Journal of Communication Disorders, 71, pp. 85-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.01.001

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