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Socioeconomic status correlates with measures of Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system: a meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2021

Leonardo PIOT*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et de Psycholinguistique, Département d'Etudes cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, France
Naomi HAVRON
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et de Psycholinguistique, Département d'Etudes cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, France University of Haifa, Israel
Alejandrina CRISTIA
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Sciences Cognitives et de Psycholinguistique, Département d'Etudes cognitives, ENS, EHESS, CNRS, PSL University, France
*
Address for correspondence: Leonardo Piot, 29 rue d'Ulm, 75005, Paris, France. E-mail: leo1997p@gmail.com

Abstract

Using a meta-analytic approach, we evaluate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and children's experiences measured with the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system. Our final analysis included 22 independent samples, representing data from 1583 children. A model controlling for LENATM measures, age and publication type revealed an effect size of rz= .186, indicating a small effect of SES on children's language experiences. The type of LENA metric measured emerged as a significant moderator, indicating stronger effects for adult word counts than child vocalization counts. These results provide important evidence for the strength of association between SES and children's everyday language experiences as measured with an unobtrusive recording analyzed automatically in a standardized fashion.

Type
Brief Research Report
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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