Association of maternal primary language with neurodevelopmental outcomes in high-risk infants.

Objective: Examine whether maternal primary language (English or a minoritized language) is associated with differences in infant developmental outcomes.

Study design: This retrospective cohort study included 253 infants from a high-risk infant follow-up clinic at a quaternary care center in the U.S. who underwent developmental evaluation at 6, 12, and 24 months corrected age. The Bayley Scales, 3rd and 4th editions, were used to assess development.

Result: At 6- and 12-month visits, the minoritized-language group had significantly lower scores than the English-language group in cognitive, language, and motor domains. By the 24-month visit, the minoritized-language group appeared to catch up in cognitive and motor domains but a significant difference in language skills persisted.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate disparities in developmental outcomes, particularly in language skills at 24 months corrected age, based on maternal primary language, underscoring the need for further research to inform targeted interventions to address these disparities.