title: Delayed Early Vocabulary Development in Children at Family Risk of Dyslexia.
abstract: This study aimed to gain more insight into the relation between vocabulary and reading acquisition by examining early growth trajectories in the vocabulary of children at family risk (FR) of dyslexia longitudinally.
  
  
  
  The sample included 212 children from the Dutch Dyslexia Program with and without an FR. Parents reported on their children's receptive and expressive vocabulary size at ages 17, 23, 29, and 35 months using the Dutch MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. Dyslexia status at the end of Grade 2 (8 years) rendered 3 groups: FR-dyslexic (n = 51), FR-nondyslexic (n = 92), and typically developing-nondyslexic (TD) children (n = 69).
  
  
  
  Repeated measures analyses showed that FR-dyslexic children had lower receptive vocabulary scores from 23 months onward and lower expressive scores from 17 months onward than FR-nondyslexic children. Latent growth curve modeling showed lower initial growth rates in FR-dyslexic children, followed by partial recovery, indicating a delayed increase in receptive and expressive vocabulary. FR-nondyslexic and TD children did not differ.
  
  
  
  Early deficits in receptive and expressive vocabulary are associated with later reading. Early vocabulary growth of FR-dyslexic children is characterized by a delay but not deviance of growth. Vocabulary can be considered an additional risk factor for dyslexia.
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sietske
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: van Viersen
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elise H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: de Bree
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verdam
authors.affiliation: Radboud University, Centre for Language Studies, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Evelien
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krikhaar
authors.affiliation: Groningen University, Centre for Language and Cognition, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maassen
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aryan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Leij
authors.affiliation: University of Amsterdam, Research Institute of Child Development and Education (RICDE), Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: de Jong
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004410:Dyslexia; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007807:Language Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011932:Reading; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014825:Vocabulary