SOURCES OF CHILD VOCABULARY COMPETENCE - A MULTIVARIATE MODEL

This study examines sources of individual variation in child vocabular y competence in the context of a multivariate developmental ecological model. Maternal sociodemographic characteristics, personological char acteristics, and vocabulary, as well as child gender, social competenc e, and vocabulary competence were evaluated simultaneously in 126 chil dren aged I;8 and their mothers. Measures of child vocabulary competen ce included two measures each of spontaneous speech, experimenter asse ssments, and maternal reports. Maternal measures, from proximal to dis tal, included vocabulary, verbal intelligence, personality, attitudes toward parenting, knowledge of parenting, and SES. Structural equation modelling supported several direct unique predictive relations: child gender (girls higher) and social competence as well as maternal attit udes toward parenting predicted child vocabulary competence, and mothe rs' vocabulary predicted child vocabulary comprehension and two measur es of mother-reported child Vocabulary expression. In addition, childr en's vocabulary competence was influenced indirectly by mothers' vocab ulary, social personality, and knowledge of child development. Materna l vocabulary itself was positively influenced by SES, maternal verbal intelligence, and mothers' knowledge about parenting. Individual varia tion in child vocabulary competence might best be understood as arisin g within a nexus of contextual factors both proximal and distal to the child.