A expressividade emocional familiar e o desenvolvimento comunicativo de crianças

Abstract

The literature has recognized the importance of deepening knowledge about communicative and linguistic development in early childhood. Given the centrality of the family context, studies are still needed to analyze whether family emotional expressiveness may have an impact on this process. The main objective of this study is to investigate the potentially explanatory role of family emotional expressiveness in the communicative and linguistic development of children aged between two years and six months and four years, controlling for the effect of sex and age. Sixty ­eight fathers and mothers (Mage mothers = 35.15, SD = 4.02; Mage fathers = 34.31, SD = 5.55), answered a Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the MacArthur Bates Communicative Skills Development Inventory, and the Family Self Expression Questionnaire Descriptive, correlational, and multiple hierarchical linear regression analyzes were performed. Positive correlations were found between positive emotional expressiveness and children's performance in vocabulary and syntax. It was found that age and positive family emotional expressiveness constitute statistically significant explanatory variables of children's communicative development, positively associated with vocabulary, but negatively associated with syntax. Future studies may adopt a longitudinal design to identify variations in families' emotional expressiveness over time and their impact on children's communicative and linguistic development. Psychological practice may focus on the detection of children who present difficulties in communicative and linguistic development and on the promotion of positive parenting skills, reflecting on how family emotional expressiveness can have an impact on the development of children.

Date of Award	10 Feb 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Íris M. Oliveira (Supervisor)