Breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of refugee, migrant and asylum seeker women in Portugal.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months after childbirth. However, breastfeeding is influenced by organizational, social, geopolitical, and cultural factors, which are understudied in the migrant population. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of refugee, migrant, and asylum-seeking mothers living in Lisbon. METHODS: A sociodemographic questionnaire and a Breastfeeding Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs, and Practices questionnaire were used to gather information regarding baseline breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, and practices towards breastfeeding. RESULTS: Only 40% of the mothers received antenatal counselling regarding the benefits and management of breastfeeding. Of the 20 responses, 10 (50%) mothers were found to have fair breastfeeding knowledge, 14 (70%) had fair attitudes and beliefs, and 12 (60%) had fair breastfeeding practices. Correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between mothers' breastfeeding attitudes (r = 0.531, p < 0.05) and their breastfeeding knowledge. There was no statistically significant correlation between the mothers' breastfeeding attitudes, beliefs, and practices. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that healthy breastfeeding behaviours can be stimulated by receiving proper counselling from health professionals. Countries must focus on improving breastfeeding practices, as they still fail to do all they can to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding globally. Universal interventions are necessary to improve breastfeeding, regardless of migrant or refugee status.

Current practices of Portuguese speech-language pathologists with preschool-age children with pragmatic impairment: A cross-sectional survey.

This study aims to investigate the practice patterns used by Portuguese speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with preschool-age children with pragmatic impairment and to identify the actual need(s) perceived by SLPs in this field. A total of 351 SLPs responded. The results reveal that 81.5 per cent of the respondents (n=286) reported working or had previously worked with preschool-age children with pragmatic impairment arising from autism spectrum disorder, developmental language disorder, or both. Considering the clinical practice, similarities and differences were found, many of which are due not to the inherent characteristics of each disorder but to the scarcity of research in clinical pragmatics. These results are also reflected in the needs perceived by SLPs and the degree of confidence with which they work with these children. Implications for clinical practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Effects of the Narrative Intervention Program for Preschool Portuguese Children.

OBJECTIVE: This article analyzes the contribution of a narrative intervention program in linguistic performance (measured by the percentage of correct consonants [PCC], mean length of utterance [MLU], and auditory memory [AM]) of children. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A group of 14 children with primary language impairments participated in this study. The children were divided into two groups (seven children in each): the narrative intervention group (experimental group) and the control group. All children were treated by the same speech-language therapist. The narrative intervention program consisted of eight weekly group sessions. Outcome measures of PCC, MLU, and AM (of pseudowords, words, sentences, and orders) were taken before and after intervention. A qualitative assessment of the intervention effects from the perspective of the children's parents was also included. RESULTS: The results suggest improvements in PCC and MLU but no support for intervention effectiveness on these measures. In AM, the results indicate a significant intervention effect on words and orders. Parents reported intervention to be favorable/very favorable. CONCLUSION: The narrative intervention program was effective in enhancing children's AM. However, further investigation is required to provide clinical evidence for speech and language therapists to employ this program for children with primary language impairments.

Validity and reliability of the Intelligibility in Context Scale: European Portuguese version.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the validity, reliability, sensitivity and specificity of the European-Portuguese version of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS-EP). Seventy-six children (age: M = 60.6, SD = 8.1 months), 25 having a parent or teacher concern about how they talked and 51 with no concern, were assessed with the phonetic-phonological test (TFF-ALPE) to calculate the following severity measures: percentage of phonemes correct (PPC), percentage of consonants correct (PCC), and percentage of vowels correct (PVC). Parents also filled out a questionnaire about their child's development (e.g. concern about how the child talks). The ICS was then completed by parents to estimate their children's intelligibility with different communicative partners. The results showed that item-level scores were different according to communicative partners. The mean ICS score for the whole sample was 4.5 (SD = 0.6), showing that children were "usually" to "always" intelligible. The ICS had excellent internal consistency (α = 0.96). Children with parental concern about their speech presented significantly lower mean scores (M = 3.91, SD = 0.59) than children without parental concerns (M = 4.78, SD = 0.36). There was a positive correlation between the ICS scores and PPC (r = .655), PCC (r = .654), and PVC (r = .588). A simple linear model was also obtained between the ICS mean score and the severity measures analyzed. High values were obtained for sensitivity (0.80) and specificity (0.84), using a cut-off point of 4.36. We conclude that the ICS-EP has good psychometric properties, suggesting it to be a valid tool for estimating children's intelligibility when talking with different communicative partners. Therefore, this version of the ICS can be used as a screening measure for children's speech intelligibility.

Generalization and maintenance of treatment gains in primary progressive aphasia (PPA): a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive-linguistic treatments and interventions targeting communication have been developed within the context of primary progressive aphasia (PPA), however knowledge about the scope of generalization and maintenance of therapy gains considering PPA subtypes remains scarce and awaits systematic investigation. AIMS: To analyse the effects of semantic therapy on generalization and maintenance of treatment outcomes in individuals with PPA, considering its different subtypes. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Central, PubMed, Medline, Web of Knowledge and Scopus were used to retrieve articles of interest. A total of 25 non-randomized studies published between 2000 and 2016 met the eligibility criteria and therefore were included in this study. MAIN CONTRIBUTION: This systematic review provides evidence-based information for clinical practice in PPA. Generalization and maintenance effects post-treatment for each PPA variant are analysed and discussed. Several factors are described as important to maximize the scope for generalization and maintenance of treatment gains. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Generalization is particularly hard to achieve in the semantic variant, as in the face of degraded semantic knowledge learning is rigid and context dependent. In contrast, non-fluent and logopenic variants offer better scope for generalization. Maintenance patterns do not seem to be influenced by PPA subtype, but rather by other factors such as continued practice, treatment length and frequency of sessions. In the future, clinicians should consider the PPA subtype when planning the treatment protocol.

Effectiveness of the Language Intervention Programme for Preschool Children.

OBJECTIVE: This paper investigates the effectiveness of the Language Intervention Programme for the treatment of 14 preschool-aged children with primary language impairment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used a waiting list control design, in which half the sample (7 children) received immediate intervention with the Language Intervention Programme, whereas the remaining children received treatment after a 4-week delay. The intervention consisted of 8 individual biweekly sessions. Outcome measures of language ability (receptive semantic and morphosyntactic, expressive semantic and morphosyntactic, and metalinguistic) were taken before and after intervention. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of intervention, the experimental group showed significant improvements in language (receptive, expressive and metalinguistic skills), but no differences were found for those in the waiting control group. After 4 weeks of intervention for the control group, significant progress in language was also observed. CONCLUSION: The Language Intervention Programme was found to be effective in treating language skills of children with language impairment, providing clinical evidence for speech and language therapists to employ this programme for the treatment of preschool children with language disorders.

Exploring the Clinical Practice of Speech and Language Therapists with Adults with Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Portugal.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Adults with acquired communication and swallowing disorders secondary to dementia can benefit from speech and language therapy services. However, there is limited information on the role of speech and language therapists (SLTs) in the treatment of individuals with dementia. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical practice of SLTs with adults with dementia. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of SLTs was conducted in Portugal using a web-based questionnaire designed specifically for the purpose of this study. RESULTS: A total of 230 SLTs responded to the survey. Among the respondents, 52.2% had limited clinical practice with individuals with dementia, with only 14.3% having worked with more than 10 cases. CONCLUSION: In Portugal, the clinical practice of SLTs in dementia is limited and mostly centred on the assessment of language, communication, and swallowing. The current findings highlight the need to address training in dementia within graduate and post-graduate programmes for SLTs.

Validation of a Paediatric Speech and Language Screening (RALF).

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aims to analyse psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese Paediatric Speech and Language Screening (RALF) test. METHODS: 202 Portuguese children aged 3; 0-5; 11 were recruited from 4 kindergartens participating in this study. Reliability and validity (sensitivity and specificity) data were obtained and analysed. RESULTS: Content validity, analysed by an expert panel (general practitioner, kindergarten, teacher, nurse, and speech and language pathologist) revealed that the items were representative and relevant for the content the instrument intends to measure. Sensitivity values were 95, 96, and 83% and specificity values were 85, 84, and 71% for the age groups 3; 0-3; 11, 4; 0-4; 11, and 5; 0-5; 11, respectively. Internal consistency, calculated through Cronbach's alpha, was 0.7, 0.8, and 0.7, respectively. The inter-judge reliability (interclass correlation coefficient) was 0.951. The results ensure the content validity of RALF. Sensitivity and specificity values revealed that RALF could discriminate typical from disordered speech-language developing children. RALF also presented good internal consistency and excellent reliability. CONCLUSION: RALF is a reliable and valid screening instrument that health and educational professionals can use in Portuguese children to identify children who may need a speech-language diagnosis for consideration or referral to speech therapy services.

Influence of Demographic Variables on Metalinguistic Skills.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The existing literature reports no clear patterns for the influence of extralinguistic variables on MSs because they vary across languages. Therefore, the current study addresses this issue by analyzing the development of MSs at the beginning of formal schooling and by determining the extent to which demographic variables affect metalinguistic development in normally developing European-Portuguese (EP) children. METHODS: The sample included 80 EP first graders aged 6;00-6;11 years who presented a normal linguistic development. The Language Test - Preschool Language Assessment (TL-ALPE) was used to assess MSs in the domains of semantic, structural, and phonological awareness. RESULTS: At the beginning of formal schooling, only one phonological awareness task involving syllables was considered to be acquired and established among all metalinguistic tasks elicited. Significant group differences were not found for the demographic variables of gender, socioeconomic status, and ecological setting. CONCLUSION: These findings contribute to the increasing literature on MSs. The reference information provided is important for accurately identifying school-aged children with language impairment.

Validity and reliability of the European-Portuguese preschool language assessment ALPE.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To design and standardize the Preschool Language Test (Teste de Linguagem-Avaliação da Linguagem Pré-Escolar, TL-ALPE) which assesses European Portuguese (EP)-speaking children's receptive and expressive language abilities. METHODS: To standardize TL-ALPE, data was collected on 817 EP-speaking children aged 3 years and 0 months to 5 years and 12 months. The standardization, validity and reliability procedures of TL-ALPE followed the standard recommendations. RESULTS: TL-ALPE presented a strong cohesion (internal consistency, >80%) and strong inter- and intrajudge reliability (>90%). The content validity was verified by the description of instrument domain and the items. The construct validity of TL-ALPE was confirmed by the proportional increase in mean score values with age for both receptive and expressive abilities. The results of concurrent validity revealed strong correlations between TL-ALPE and other EP preschool language tests for expressive and total language scores. CONCLUSION: TL-ALPE is a valid and reliable instrument to assess language skills of EP-speaking preschool children.

Assessment of morphosyntactic development in European Portuguese-speaking children.

OBJECTIVE: Studies on the late acquisition of morphosyntax in European Portuguese (EP)-speaking children are relatively scarce in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to report data on the morphosyntactic domain from typically developing children. The present investigation focused on differences in morphosyntactic performance according to specific demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, ecological setting, and socioeconomic background). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eighty EP-speaking children aged between 6 years and 6 years and 11 months were assessed with the Language Test - Preschool Language Assessment (TL-ALPE). RESULTS: Within the age range considered, some receptive and productive competencies were acquired. Significant differences were found for gender and age. CONCLUSION: These outcomes contribute to the knowledge of late developmental processes in the morphosyntactic domain, in EP-speaking children, presenting well-established performance standards. The provided reference information is fundamental to accurately identify children with language impairment and to construct new valid assessment instruments.

Use of digital devices, family functioning, and language development in preschool children: a cross-sectional study. / Utilização de dispositivos digitais, funcionamento familiar e desenvolvimento da linguagem em crianças de idade pré-escolar: um estudo transversal.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to analyse the relationship between the use of digital devices, family function, and language development in preschool children. METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study included a sample of 93 parent-child dyads. The children were of an average age of 57.01 ± 9.95 months, and the majority were female. The data collection instruments included a questionnaire on the use of digital devices, the Portuguese version of the Family Flexibility and Cohesion Evaluation Scale - Version IV (FACES-IV), and a Preschool Language Test (TL-ALPE). RESULTS: The findings showed a greater tendency of children to use smartphones, tablets, and television for 0-3 hours daily. The analysis of the responses on the FACES-IV and TL-ALPE instruments showed that most of the participating families were of the balanced type and that most children had normal language development. Statistically significant relationships were found between the FACES-IV subscales and TL-ALPE subtests, FACES-IV subscales and the use of digital devices, and the use of digital devices and TL-ALPE subtests. Notably, children in more balanced family functioning scored higher on TL-ALPE tests, and the time spent using digital devices may compromise language development. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the impact of digital device use and the role of family functioning on children's language development, suggesting that moderate digital device use and balanced family functioning are facilitating factors for good language development.

OBJETIVO: Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a relação entre a utilização de dispositivos digitais, o funcionamento familiar e o desenvolvimento da linguagem em crianças de idade pré-escolar. MÉTODO: Estudo transversal, descritivo-correlacional com uma amostra de 93 díades pais-crianças. As crianças tinham uma média etária de 57,01 ± 9,95 meses, sendo a maioria do gênero feminino. Os instrumentos de recolha de dados incluíram um questionário sobre o uso de dispositivos digitais, a versão portuguesa da Escala de Avaliação da Flexibilidade e Coesão Familiar - Versão IV (FACES-IV) e o Teste de Linguagem - Avaliação de Linguagem Pré-Escolar (TL-ALPE). RESULTADOS: As respostas demonstram uma maior tendência para a utilização do smartphone, tablet e televisão entre 0 e 3 horas por dia nas crianças. Com a aplicação da FACES-IV e do TL-ALPE, verificou-se que a maioria das famílias participantes eram do tipo equilibrado e que a maioria das crianças apresenta um normal desenvolvimento da linguagem. Observaram-se relações estatisticamente significativas entre a FACES-IV e o TL-ALPE; a FACES-IV e a utilização de dispositivos digitais; a utilização de dispositivos digitais e o TL-ALPE. Verificou-se que crianças com um funcionamento familiar mais equilibrado pontuam mais alto nas provas do TL-ALPE e que o tempo de uso de dispositivos digitais pode comprometer o desenvolvimento da linguagem. CONCLUSÃO: Destaca-se o impacto da utilização dos dispositivos digitais e o papel do funcionamento familiar no desenvolvimento da linguagem da criança, sugerindo que uma utilização moderada de dispositivos digitais e um funcionamento familiar equilibrado são fatores facilitadores de um bom desenvolvimento da linguagem.

Exploring the effectiveness of the Pragmatic Intervention Programme (PICP) with children with autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder: A non-randomised controlled trial.

LAY ABSTRACT: Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental language disorder (DLD) often have difficulties using language in social contexts. An intervention programme for preschool-age children with pragmatic difficulties, called Pragmatic Intervention Programme (PICP), showed positive effects for these children. However, it was important to confirm these effects with a larger group and analyse them separately for each condition. In this study, the effectiveness of the PICP was analysed in preschool-age children with ASD or DLD with difficulties in using language in social contexts. The study was carried out with 36 children. Twenty-two were allocated to an experimental group to receive the PICP-based intervention first, and 14 children were assigned to a control group (waiting list). Each child attended 24 PICP-based intervention sessions provided by a speech and language therapist. Progress was measured using a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) and other language assessment instruments. The results showed that all children in the experimental group made significant progress in their language competencies, compared to the control group after the intervention. This study confirms that the PICP is effective in improving language competencies in preschool-age children with ASD and DLD with difficulties in using language for social purposes, regardless of their condition. These results emphasise the importance of tailored interventions for these children and point to areas for further research.

Psychometric Properties of Standardized Instruments that are Used to Measure Pragmatic Intervention Effects in Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Systematic Review.

This review aimed to analyze the psychometric properties of standardized instruments that are used to measure pragmatic intervention effects in children with developmental language disorder. Following PRISMA structure, a comprehensive literature research was conducted in five electronic indexing databases: Central, PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and Scopus. Six studies between 2005 and 2019 were included and seven standardized instruments have been analyzed. All instruments present some evidence of validity and reliability, but none reported responsiveness. The instruments reviewed were not used for their original purpose, which may explain the results. The small number of studies prevent drawing clear conclusions. Future studies should focus on appropriate, valid, reliable, and responsive measures. Research focusing on psychometric properties is crucial, mostly about responsiveness.

Early predictors of reading success in first grade.

Reading acquisition is a complex process that can be predicted by several components which, in turn, can be affected by the orthography depth. This study aims to explore the early predictors of (un)success in reading acquisition within an intermediate transparent orthography. At the beginning of the school year, 119 European Portuguese-speaking first graders were assessed regarding (i) sociodemographic variables: mothers' education and socioeconomic status (SES); (ii) cognitive variables: phonological working memory and vocabulary; (iii) reading-related variables: letter-sound knowledge, phonemic awareness, and rapid naming. Results of the three variable clusters were correlated with the final classification obtained in the Portuguese discipline. Specifically, there was a correlation between the Portuguese discipline classification with all reading and cognitive-related variables, with the highest correlations occurring with mother education and letter spelling. A regression analysis was conducted to assess the predictor impact of mother education and letter spelling (variables that correlated stronger with the Portuguese classification) on Portuguese classifications. Letter spelling was the sole significant predictor of the Portuguese classification. Based on these results, a path analysis was run to test whether letter spelling is a mediator of the relationship between the mother's education and the Portuguese classification. The results of the model test yielded a reasonable fit, indicating a relationship between the mother's education and letter spelling, which in turn, relates to the Portuguese classification. The identification of reading predictors in an intermediate-depth orthography such as European Portuguese contributes to more accurate identification of at-risk children.

The Usability and Acceptability of the mHealth "Health and Voice" for Promoting Teachers' Vocal Health.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usability and acceptability of "Health and Voice" for the promotion of vocal health, and to analyze the same with sociodemographic data, work data, self-knowledge data on vocal care, voice disadvantage, and vocal fatigue symptoms in elementary school teachers. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study, with a sample of 277 elementary school teachers from a Brazilian capital. Teachers were invited to access, interact and evaluate the mHealth: "Health and Voice". The evaluation instruments were the questionnaire with information on socio-demographic and work data, the System Usability Scale (SUS), the questionnaire with questions about acceptability, the Voice Handicap Index Protocol (VHI-10), and the Vocal Fatigue Index Protocol (VFI). Descriptive and association analyses were performed by the Chi-square, Fisher exact, Mann-Whitney, and Wilcoxon tests (P ≤ 0.05) RESULTS: the mean SUS score was 81.9 points; the mean of the acceptability questions was 17.24; the VHI-10 was 6.96 points; the VFI was 21.11 points. Most participants rated the acceptability of mHealth as high. There was an association between acceptability and working in two shifts (P = 0.019); between acceptability and usability (P < 0.001); and between usability and self-perception of knowledge about voice care after using mHealth (P = 0.000). The activity perceived as most important was guidance on voice care. CONCLUSION: "Health and Voice" is a vocal guidance tool for teachers that promotes vocal health. It has high usability and acceptability by elementary school teachers. Self-reported knowledge about vocal care increases after its use and those who evaluate the technology with high acceptability are 3.6 times more likely to also classify it with high usability.

The Effects of the Pragmatic Intervention Programme in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Language Disorder.

PURPOSE: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) frequently face pragmatic impairments which may result in learning, socialization, and mental health difficulties, therefore early intervention is crucial. In Portugal, the Pragmatic Intervention Programme (PICP) has been recently developed and validated, but its effects are unknown. This study aims to determine the effects of the PICP on preschool-age children with ASD or DLD with pragmatic impairments. METHODS: A non-randomized controlled trial has been conducted. The children (n = 20) were assigned to the intervention (n = 11) or the control group (waiting list) (n = 9). Each child attended 24 PICP-based intervention sessions provided by a Speech and Language Therapist in kindergarten. The primary outcome measure was a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) rated by parents and kindergarten teachers. Secondary outcomes include parent/teacher-reported communication skills (Escala de Avaliação de Competências Comunicativas) and an assessment of the child's general language ability (Teste de Linguagem-Avaliação da Linguagem Pré-Escolar). RESULTS: GAS results show that all the children in the intervention group made progress. Statistically significant differences between pre- and post-intervention assessments were found for all secondary outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The main findings suggest that the PICP improves language in preschool-age children with ASD and DLD with pragmatic difficulties. Further research is needed to analyse the effects of the PICP for each neurodevelopmental disorder individually. These results are crucial and will contribute to future research and evidence-based practice.

Explicit Instructions Do Not Enhance Auditory Statistical Learning in Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials.

A current issue in psycholinguistic research is whether the language difficulties exhibited by children with developmental language disorder [DLD, previously labeled specific language impairment (SLI)] are due to deficits in their abilities to pick up patterns in the sensory environment, an ability known as statistical learning (SL), and the extent to which explicit learning mechanisms can be used to compensate for those deficits. Studies designed to test the compensatory role of explicit learning mechanisms in children with DLD are, however, scarce, and the few conducted so far have led to inconsistent results. This work aimed to provide new insights into the role that explicit learning mechanisms might play on implicit learning deficits in children with DLD by resorting to a new approach. This approach involved not only the collection of event-related potentials (ERPs), while preschool children with DLD [relative to typical language developmental (TLD) controls] were exposed to a continuous auditory stream made of the repetition of three-syllable nonsense words but, importantly, the collection of ERPs when the same children performed analogous versions of the same auditory SL task first under incidental (implicit) and afterward under intentional (explicit) conditions. In each of these tasks, the level of predictability of the three-syllable nonsense words embedded in the speech streams was also manipulated (high vs. low) to mimic natural languages closely. At the end of both tasks' exposure phase, children performed a two-alternative forced-choice (2-AFC) task from which behavioral evidence of SL was obtained. Results from the 2-AFC tasks failed to show reliable signs of SL in both groups of children. The ERPs data showed, however, significant modulations in the N100 and N400 components, taken as neural signatures of word segmentation in the brain, even though a detailed analysis of the neural responses revealed that only children from the TLD group seem to have taken advantage of the previous knowledge to enhance SL functioning. These results suggest that children with DLD showed deficits both in implicit and explicit learning mechanisms, casting doubts on the efficiency of the interventions relying on explicit instructions to help children with DLD to overcome their language difficulties.

Utilização de dispositivos digitais, funcionamento familiar e desenvolvimento da linguagem em crianças de idade pré-escolar: um estudo transversal / Use of digital devices, family functioning, and language development in preschool children: a cross-sectional study

RESUMO Objetivo Este estudo teve como objetivo analisar a relação entre a utilização de dispositivos digitais, o funcionamento familiar e o desenvolvimento da linguagem em crianças de idade pré-escolar. Método Estudo transversal, descritivo-correlacional com uma amostra de 93 díades pais-crianças. As crianças tinham uma média etária de 57,01 ± 9,95 meses, sendo a maioria do gênero feminino. Os instrumentos de recolha de dados incluíram um questionário sobre o uso de dispositivos digitais, a versão portuguesa da Escala de Avaliação da Flexibilidade e Coesão Familiar - Versão IV (FACES-IV) e o Teste de Linguagem - Avaliação de Linguagem Pré-Escolar (TL-ALPE). Resultados As respostas demonstram uma maior tendência para a utilização do smartphone, tablet e televisão entre 0 e 3 horas por dia nas crianças. Com a aplicação da FACES-IV e do TL-ALPE, verificou-se que a maioria das famílias participantes eram do tipo equilibrado e que a maioria das crianças apresenta um normal desenvolvimento da linguagem. Observaram-se relações estatisticamente significativas entre a FACES-IV e o TL-ALPE; a FACES-IV e a utilização de dispositivos digitais; a utilização de dispositivos digitais e o TL-ALPE. Verificou-se que crianças com um funcionamento familiar mais equilibrado pontuam mais alto nas provas do TL-ALPE e que o tempo de uso de dispositivos digitais pode comprometer o desenvolvimento da linguagem. Conclusão Destaca-se o impacto da utilização dos dispositivos digitais e o papel do funcionamento familiar no desenvolvimento da linguagem da criança, sugerindo que uma utilização moderada de dispositivos digitais e um funcionamento familiar equilibrado são fatores facilitadores de um bom desenvolvimento da linguagem.

ABSTRACT Purpose This study aimed to analyse the relationship between the use of digital devices, family function, and language development in preschool children. Methods This cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study included a sample of 93 parent-child dyads. The children were of an average age of 57.01 ± 9.95 months, and the majority were female. The data collection instruments included a questionnaire on the use of digital devices, the Portuguese version of the Family Flexibility and Cohesion Evaluation Scale - Version IV (FACES-IV), and a Preschool Language Test (TL-ALPE). Results The findings showed a greater tendency of children to use smartphones, tablets, and television for 0-3 hours daily. The analysis of the responses on the FACES-IV and TL-ALPE instruments showed that most of the participating families were of the balanced type and that most children had normal language development. Statistically significant relationships were found between the FACES-IV subscales and TL-ALPE subtests, FACES-IV subscales and the use of digital devices, and the use of digital devices and TL-ALPE subtests. Notably, children in more balanced family functioning scored higher on TL-ALPE tests, and the time spent using digital devices may compromise language development. Conclusion This study highlights the impact of digital device use and the role of family functioning on children's language development, suggesting that moderate digital device use and balanced family functioning are facilitating factors for good language development.

The Impact of Morphological Awareness on Reading and Spelling / O Impacto da Consciência Morfológica na Leitura e na Ortografia

ABSTRACT: Morphological awareness is characterized by the ability to intentionally reflect and manipulate morphemes. The present study aimed to characterize the development of morphological awareness in school-age children and to analyze its impact on reading and spelling. The sample was comprised of 60 children with typical language development in Portuguese primary schools with a mean age of 8.6 (standard deviation = 0.1), 30of which attended the 2nd grade and 30 the 4th grade. The data was analyzed considering the use of language assessment instruments, reading and spelling and morphological awareness tests adapted from other studies. The results showed a significant difference in morphological awareness between the 2nd grade and the 4th grade. Although with different statistical proportions, there was a positive correlation between morphological awareness and reading, and between this metalinguistic capacity and spelling in both groups. An association is suggested between morphological awareness and reading and spelling and a difference in this correlation between the two degrees.

RESUMO: A consciência morfológica é caracterizada pela capacidade de refletir e manipular intencionalmente os morfemas. O presente estudo visou caracterizar o desenvolvimento da consciência morfológica em crianças em idade escolar e analisar o seu impacto na leitura e na ortografia. A amostra foi composta por 60 crianças portuguesas com desenvolvimento linguístico típico a frequentar o 1º ciclo do Ensino Básico, com uma média de idades de 8,6 anos (desvio padrão = 0.1), 30 das quais frequentam o 2º ano e 30 o 4º ano. Os dados foram analisados com recurso a instrumentos de avaliação linguística, leitura e ortografia e testes de consciência morfológica adaptados de outros estudos. Os resultados mostraram uma diferença significativa na consciência morfológica entre o 2º ano e o 4º ano. Embora com diferentes proporções estatísticas, houve uma correlação positiva entre consciência morfológica e leitura, e entre esta capacidade metalinguística e ortográfica em ambos os grupos. É sugerida uma associação entre consciência morfológica e leitura e ortografia e uma diferença nesta correlação entre os dois anos de escolaridade.