Papers by Marina Leite Puglisi
Research Papers in Education
Transtornos do desenvolvimento de linguagem Fatores de risco Testes de linguagem
Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 2021
The Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham scale version IV (SNAP-IV) is widely used to assess symptoms of at... more The Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham scale version IV (SNAP-IV) is widely used to assess symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in children and adolescents. Nevertheless, there is insufficient data to support its use in preschool children. The study had three goals: First, to test the factorial validity of the three correlated-factors model of ADHD and ODD items of the SNAP-IV. Second, to investigate the measurement invariance of the items over time (6-month longitudinal interval) and by sex. Third, to investigate the convergent validity and method-specific influences on ADHD/ODD assessments with respect to multiple raters (parents/teachers) of children's symptoms. Participants were 618 preschool children (3.5-6 years) at baseline and 6-month follow-up. For model testing, we used confirmatory factor analysis for categorical observed variables. Method and trait effects were examined using the CT-C(M-1) model. The analyses showed partial measurement invariance over time and according to sex. Moreover, strong rater-specific effects were detected. The implication of the results for construct validation of the instrument and clinical assessment of ADHD and ODD traits are discussed.
Research questions. Our aim was to (a) seek cross-cultural evidence for executive functioning def... more Research questions. Our aim was to (a) seek cross-cultural evidence for executive functioning deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI); (b) explore whether a similar pattern of deficits emerges in monolingual and bilingual children with SLI from low income families. Methods. We present data on bilingual and monolingual children from Luxembourg, Portugal, and Brazil who all speak Portuguese as their first language and were tested on the same battery of language and executive function measures. The data from 124 eight-year-olds from five different groups was analyzed: (1) 15 Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilingual children from Luxembourg with SLI (Bi-SLI); (2) 33 typically developing Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilingual children from Luxembourg (Bi-TD); (3) 33 typically developing monolinguals from Portugal (Mo-TD/Pt); (4) 18 monolinguals from Brazil with SLI (Mo-SLI); (5) 25 typically developing monolinguals from Brazil (Mo-TD/Br). Groups were matched on chronological age, socioeconomic status, and nonverbal intelligence. Children completed a range of measures tapping vocabulary, grammar, verbal and visuospatial working memory, and cognitive control. Results. Despite significant differences in their language and verbal working memory performance (SLI<TD), groups exhibited comparable performance on visuospatial working memory tasks. On cognitive control the following pattern emerged: Mo-TD/Pt < Bi-TD; Bi-SLI = Mo-TD/Pt; Mo-SLI < Mo-TD/Br. Conclusion. The study provides no evidence of domain-general deficits in working memory in SLI. Visuospatial working memory difficulties might not be specific to SLI but represent one of many risk factors that can compromise language learning. Our data is consistent with the position that a bilingual experience stimulates the development of cognitive control that is involved in dealing with conflicting information. Notably, our results indicate that mechanisms of cognitive control might be deficient in monolingual but not in bilingual children with SLI raising the possibility that bilingualism might represent a protective factor against some of the cognitive limitations in SLI
Discussao Este estudo sugere que embora o ambiente nao exerca grande influencia sobre as habilida... more Discussao Este estudo sugere que embora o ambiente nao exerca grande influencia sobre as habilidades de memoria de digitos e MO visuoespacial, a experiencia escolar pode afetar o desempenho em tarefas complexas de MO verbal. Embora as demandas deste teste sejam consideradas simples para a maioria dos estudos envolvendo criancas de alto NSE, inseridas em ambientes educacionais privilegiados, e possivel que a realizacao de contagem com estimulo competitivo demande habilidades atencionais adicionais para criancas com baixo acesso a educacao de qualidade. Alem disso, tanto o ambiente linguistico quando o educacional desfavoraveis influenciaram o desempenho das criancas no vocabulario receptivo.
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 2020
The Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) has been used in large studies such as the Millenn... more The Bracken School Readiness Assessment (BSRA) has been used in large studies such as the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). Important conclusions might be done regarding its reliability for the prediction of children's school readiness taking advantage of such large-scale evaluation. Although BSRA has being largely used, few are the studies at item-level under latent approach investigating its psychometric features. Using data from 14,899 2-3-year olds who participated in the MCS, we used Bayesian confirmatory factor analysis to examine multidimensionality of the subtests of the BSRA and their consistencies, specificities, and reliabilities. We found clear indications of multidimensionality. From the 88 items, 10 showed low reliability. Future research may consider excluding these low reliability items to improve the psychometric properties of the BSRA and its use as multidimensional measurement tool.
Audiology - Communication Research, 2020
CoDAS, 2019
RESUMO Objetivo Os objetivos deste estudo foram: 1) avaliar o efeito da tutela no tipo de narrati... more RESUMO Objetivo Os objetivos deste estudo foram: 1) avaliar o efeito da tutela no tipo de narrativa produzida por crianças em desenvolvimento típico, 2) compará-lo entre crianças de ensino público e privado, e 3) relacioná-lo com o vocabulário, faixa etária e desempenho escolar. Método A amostra foi constituída por 107 crianças de escolas pública e particular, de 4 a 9 anos, em desenvolvimento típico. As narrativas das crianças foram eliciadas a partir de sequências de figuras, e pontuadas de acordo com o tipo de discurso: descritivo, causal ou intencional. O desempenho narrativo foi comparado antes e após a tutela, intra e entre grupos (escola pública e particular). O tipo de narrativa foi correlacionado ao vocabulário, idade e desempenho escolar. Resultados Antes da tutela, a maioria das narrativas das crianças foi classificada como descritiva. Após a tutela, houve predominância de narrativas do tipo intencional. As crianças de escola pública e particular apresentaram desempenho s...
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2019
Background: Oral and written language in late adolescence are influenced by many pre-and postnata... more Background: Oral and written language in late adolescence are influenced by many pre-and postnatal factors, including cognitive performance at earlier ages. We investigated whether the association between birth weight and lexical knowledge and reading comprehension in late adolescence (14-16 years) is mediated by verbal cognition during early adolescence (10-11 years). Methods: We conducted a mediation analysis via a potential outcomes approach to data from three United Kingdom (UK) prospective birth cohorts-The National Child Development Study (NCDS; year of birth (Y.B.
CoDAS, 2016
Impact of specific language impairment and type of school on different language subsystems Impact... more Impact of specific language impairment and type of school on different language subsystems Impacto do distúrbio específico de linguagem e do tipo de escola nos diferentes subsistemas da linguagem
Participants Measures 3. RESULTS-Structure of executive functions in young children Analyses Late... more Participants Measures 3. RESULTS-Structure of executive functions in young children Analyses Latent variable analyses Confirmatory Factor Analyses to explore the structure of Efs in young children and links with SES 4. RESULTS-SES and EF 1. BACKGROUND
Identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in polyglots or in children growing up in poverty ... more Identifying specific language impairment (SLI) in polyglots or in children growing up in poverty is complex because it is often difficult to determine whether low language scores are attributable to reduced linguistic exposure or to the presence of a neurolinguistic deficit. This cross-cultural research presents data on different groups of children with an SLI diagnose in Luxembourg, Portugal, and Brazil who all speak Portuguese as their first language and were tested on the same battery of language (expressive/receptive vocabulary and syntactic comprehension) and executive function measures (verbal/visuo-spatial working memory, focused attention, and inhibitory suppression). In Luxembourg, 15 Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilingual 8-year-olds with an SLI diagnose (Bi-SLI) took part in the study. Their performance was compared to 35 typically developing Portuguese-Luxembourgish bilinguals from Luxembourg (Bi-TD) and to 35 typically developing monolinguals from Portugal (Ml-TD). Groups were matched on chronological age, socioeconomic status, and fluid intelligence and all children came from low income families. Results indicate that despite large differences in their language scores (Bi-SLI < Bi-TD < Ml-TD), the groups exhibited comparable performance on the measures of visuo-spatial working memory, focused attention, and inhibitory suppression. Group differences emerged on the verbal working memory measures with Bi-SLI children performing significantly less well than the bilingual and monolingual TD groups that manifested comparable performance. The data seems to suggest that executive function deficits in SLI are not domain general but limited to the verbal domain. Whether these findings extend to monolingual SLI children in Portugal and Brazil will be discussed
Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 2016
This study aimed to investigate the behavior and social profile of Brazilian children with specif... more This study aimed to investigate the behavior and social profile of Brazilian children with specific language impairment (SLI) and explore whether the severity of language deficits was associated with behavioral problems and low social competence. Twenty-four children with SLI aged from 6 to 11 years who showed substantial expressive language problems and were receiving speech-language therapy were assessed through the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Children with SLI showed high rates of behavioral problems and low levels of social competence. With the exception of two subscales ("somatic" and "rule breaker"), the percentage of children with SLI at risk of behavioral problems was significantly higher than the same proportion in the general population; and almost all children with SLI (95.2 %) demonstrated problems with social competence. The severity of language deficits was associated with the risk of behavioral problems according to only one criterion. No associations were found between the severity of language problems and social competence. The study provides cross-cultural evidence to support the existence of behavior problems and reduced social competence in children with SLI. Our findings point to the need of using a combination of measures to classify the severity of language problems rather than a single dimension.
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 2014
Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Fonoaudiologia, 2010
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Papers by Marina Leite Puglisi