A longitudinal study of narrative development in children and adolescents with Down syndrome

Intellect Dev Disabil. 2012 Aug;50(4):332-42. doi: 10.1352/1934-9556-50.4.332.

Abstract

The present study examined narrative development in children and adolescents with Down syndrome longitudinally. Narratives were collected from 32 children and adolescents with Down syndrome three times over a 1-year period. Both micro- and macrolevel analyses were conducted. Significant growth over the 1-year period was seen in semantic complexity and narrative structure. However, there was no evidence of growth in syntactic complexity or narrative length. Mental age and comprehension skills at Time 1 predicted scores in all 4 areas at Time 3. Expressive language skills added further to the prediction of syntactic complexity and story length.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Down Syndrome / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Language Development*
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Narration*