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Background: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions. Due to variable rates of language growth in children under 5 years, the early identification of children with DLD is challenging. Early indicators are often outlined by speech pathology regulatory bodies and other developmental services as evidence to empower caregivers in the early identification of DLD. Aims: To test the predictive relationship between parent‐reported early indicators and the likelihood of children meeting diagnostic criteria for DLD at 10 years of age as determined by standardized assessment measures in a population‐based sample. Methods: Data were leveraged from the prospective Raine Study (n = 1626 second‐generation children: n = 104 with DLD; n = 1522 without DLD). These data were transformed into 11 predictor variables that reflect well‐established early indicators of DLD from birth to 3 years, including if the child does not smile or interact with others, does not babble, makes only a few sounds, does not understand what others say, says only a few words, says words that are not easily understood, and does not combine words or put words together to make sentences. Family history (mother and father) of speech and language difficulties were also included as variables. Regression analyses were planned to explore the predictive relationship between this set of early indicator variables and likelihood of meeting DLD diagnostic criteria at 10 years. Results: No single parent‐reported indicator uniquely accounted for a significant proportion of children with DLD at 10 years of age. Further analyses, including bivariate analyses testing the predictive power of a cumulative risk index of combined predictors (odds ratio (OR) = 0.95, confidence interval (CI) = 0.85–1.09, p = 0.447) and the moderating effect of sex (OR = 0.89, CI = 0.59–1.32, p = 0.563) were also non‐significant. Conclusions: Parent reports of early indicators of DLD are well‐intentioned and widely used. However, data from the Raine Study cohort suggest potential retrospective reporting bias in previous studies. We note that missing data for some indicators may have influenced the results. Implications for the impact of using early indicators as evidence to inform early identification of DLD are discussed. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject: DLD is a relatively common childhood condition; however, children with DLD are under‐identified and under‐served. Individual variability in early childhood makes identification of children at risk of DLD challenging. A range of 'red flags' in communication development are promoted through speech pathology regulatory bodies and developmental services to assist parents to identify if their child should access services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge: No one parent‐reported early indicator, family history or a cumulation of indicators predicted DLD at 10 years in the Raine study. Sex (specifically, being male) did not moderate an increased risk of DLD at 10 years in the Raine study. Previous studies reporting on clinical samples may be at risk of retrospective reporting bias. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: The broad dissemination and use of 'red flags' is well‐intentioned; however, demonstrating 'red flags' alone may not reliably identify those who are at later risk of DLD. Findings from the literature suggest that parent concern may be complemented with assessment of linguistic behaviours to increase the likelihood of identifying those who at risk of DLD. Approaches to identification and assessment should be considered alongside evaluation of functional impact to inform participation‐based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study sought to determine the prevalence of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) in Australian school‐aged children and associated potential risk factors for DLD at 10 years. Methods: This study used a cross‐sectional design to estimate the prevalence of DLD in Generation 2 of the prospective Raine Study. Participants included 1626 children aged 10 years with available language data. Primary outcomes included variables matching diagnostic criteria for DLD. Associations of other potential prenatal and environmental variables were analysed as secondary outcomes. Results: The prevalence of DLD in this sample was 6.4% (n = 104) at 10 years. This sub‐cohort comprised 33.7% (n = 35) with expressive language deficits, 20.2% (n = 21) with receptive language deficits, and 46.2% (n = 48) with receptive‐expressive deficits. No significant difference in sex distribution was observed (52.9% male, p = 0.799). Children who were exposed to smoke in utero at 18 weeks gestation were at increased risk of DLD at 10 years (OR = 2.56, CI = 1.23–5.35, p = 0.012). Conclusions: DLD is a relatively prevalent condition in Australian children, even when assessed in middle childhood years. These findings can inform future research priorities, and public health and educational policy which account for the associations with potential risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study compared two dose frequency conditions of an explicit intervention with 50 trials per session designed to improve past tense marking in early school‐aged children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The influence of allomorphs on intervention effects was also examined. Methods: Data from previously conducted intervention studies were combined and analysed. Participants included nine children (mean age = 6;5 years) who received 20–30‐min intervention sessions provided twice per week for 10 weeks (1000 trials; 400–600 min) and 20 children (mean age = 6;6) who received 20–30‐min intervention sessions provided once per week for 10 weeks (500 trials; 200–300 min). Repeated measures included criterion‐referenced probes for production of untrained past tense verbs collected throughout baseline, intervention, and maintenance phases. The rate of progress in each phase was analysed using logistic regression. The proportion of participants who produced past tense allomorphs correctly at pre‐intervention, post‐intervention, and maintenance testing points was analysed. Results: Logistic regression showed a stable baseline, highly significant progress during the intervention phase, and a marginally significant shallow decline during the maintenance phase. Those in the twice per week group showed a greater rate of progress during the intervention phase leading to significantly higher scores in the maintenance period when compared with the once per week group. The allomorphic category of past tense verbs did not appear to influence outcomes. Conclusions: Participants receiving intervention twice per week appeared to demonstrate a greater rate of progress with intervention than those receiving it once per week, although once per week was also effective. However, these results should be interpreted with caution. Limitations to study design indicate that a larger randomised controlled trial is required. All past tense allomorphs improve to a similar degree when treated with this intervention. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject: Understanding the parameters of dosage and intensity are important for clinical practice.Research evaluating the efficacy and/or effectiveness of interventions delivered in different dose/intensity conditions is scarce.There appears to be different interpretations of what constitutes dosage and intensity in published research. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: This study retrospectively compared dosage and intensity conditions of intervention provided twice per week to intervention provided once per week. Both dose frequencies could be delivered in clinical settings.Results from this study were analysed by grouping data from multiple testing points, rather than comparing pre‐post results. This approach demonstrated the variability of individual performance that would otherwise be lost with conventional methods of analysis.This study demonstrated that all past tense allomorphs improve to a similar degree when treated with this intervention. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Parameters of dosage and intensity are still not clearly defined well enough for translation to clinical practice. In consideration of current research, this intervention may be more effective if delivered twice per week.If clinicians are treating past tense, all allomorphs should be considered as priorities for intervention targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Investigating the impact of early childhood ventilation tube insertion (VTI) on long‐term language outcomes. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Setting: A total of 2900 pregnant women participated in the Raine Study between 1989 and 1991 in Western Australia, and 2868 children have been followed up. Participants: Based on parental reports, 314 children had a history of recurrent otitis media but did not undergo VTI (rOM group); another 94 received VTI (VTI group); while 1735 had no history of rOM (reference group) in the first 3 years of childhood. Children with data on outcomes and confounders were included in analyses of PPVT‐R at ages 6 (n = 1567) and 10 years (n = 1313) and CELF‐III at 10 years (n = 1410) (approximately 5% in the VTI group and 15% in the rOM group). Main Outcome Measures: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test‐Revised edition and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals® Preschool‐3. Results: At 6 years, mean PPVT‐R scores were significantly lower in the VTI group than the reference group (β = −3.3; 95% CI [−6.5 to −0.04], p =.047). At 10 years, while the difference between the VTI and reference groups was less pronounced for PPVT‐R scores, there was a small but consistent trend of lower measures, on average, across CELF‐III scores (expressive: β = −3.4 [−7.1 to 0.27], p =.069; receptive: β = −4.1 [−7.9 to −0.34], p =.033; total: β = −3.9 [−7.5 to −0.21], p =.038). There was no evidence to suggest that language outcomes in the rOM group differed from the reference group. Conclusion: Lower scores of language outcomes in school‐aged children who received VTI in early childhood may suggest a long‐term risk which should be considered alongside the potential benefits of VTI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]