THE EFFECTS OF OTITIS-MEDIA ON THE ATTENTION SKILLS OF DAY-CARE-ATTENDING TODDLERS

The purpose of this study was to try to understand whether otitis medi a (OM) affected toddlers' attention to language. The children in the s ample were seen in their day care at 12 or 18 months of age in a book- reading task when they had OM and when they were well. Children's hear ing was evaluated and they were given the Sequenced Inventory of Commu nication Development at 24 months of age. Over half of the sample coul d be classified as having chronic OM (about 5 months per year). Half o f the children were in high-quality and half in low-quality day care. Results suggested that children with chronic OM in low-quality care sh owed the most negative effects on attention during episodes of otitis, with the children with chronic OM displaying less attention during bo ok reading and twice as often off-task in comparison with the nonchron ic children. Mothers rated children with chronic OM as more distractib le and nonattentive. Language differences did not emerge among the gro ups.