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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Developmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1394346

Music and reading activities in early childhood associated with improved language development in preterm infants at 2-3 years of age

Provisionally accepted
Kaisamari Kostilainen Kaisamari Kostilainen 1,2*Noora Fontell Noora Fontell 1Kaija Mikkola Kaija Mikkola 3Satu Pakarinen Satu Pakarinen 1Paula M. Virtala Paula M. Virtala 1,2Minna Huotilainen Minna Huotilainen 2Vineta Fellman Vineta Fellman 3,4Eino Partanen Eino Partanen 1,2
  • 1 Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
  • 2 Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • 3 New Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
  • 4 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Skane County, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Children born preterm are at increased risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Music and reading activities in childhood could ameliorate these difficulties, as they have shown benefits on both neural and behavioral levels. However, only a few studies have assessed these potential benefits in preterm-born children. We investigated whether music and language activities in early childhood are associated with improved developmental outcomes of preterm-born children. Methods: The cognitive, language, and motor skills of 45 children, born between 24 and 34 gestational weeks, were tested at 23–38 months of corrected age with the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition. Background information, including parental education, and the weekly amount of music and language-related activities was collected using parental questionnaires. Results: The amount of singing, playing musical instruments and reading aloud was associated with better language skills. Moreover, children who had participated in a music playschool had better language skills when compared to those children who had not participated in a music playschool. Maternal education was associated with music playschool participation and better language and motor skills in children attending music playschool. Discussion: Interactive music and language activities in early childhood may improve language skills in preterm-born children. Informing and guiding parents at an early stage to integrate these activities into their daily lives could be a one way of supporting the development of preterm-born children.

    Keywords: Bayley Scales of infant and toddler development, preterm infant, Music activity, Reading activity, language development

    Received: 01 Mar 2024; Accepted: 08 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kostilainen, Fontell, Mikkola, Pakarinen, Virtala, Huotilainen, Fellman and Partanen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kaisamari Kostilainen, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.