Early Expressive Language Skills Predict Long-Term Neurocognitive Outcomes in Cochlear Implant Users: Evidence from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories

Purpose: The objective of the present article was to document the extent to which early expressive language skills (measured using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories [CDI; Fenson et al., 2006]) predict long-term neurocognitive outcomes in a sample of early-implanted prelingually deaf cochlear implant (CI) users. Method: The CDI was used to index the early expressive language skills of 32 pediatric CI users after an average of 1.03 years (SD = 0.56, range = 0.39-2.17) of CI experience. Long-term neurocognitive outcomes were assessed after an average of 11.32 (SD = 2.54, range = 7.08-16.52) years of CI experience. Measures of long-term neurocognitive outcomes were derived from gold-standard performance-based and questionnaire-based assessments of language, executive functioning, and academic skills. Result: Analyses revealed that early expressive language skills, collected on average 1.03 years post cochlear implantation, predicted long-term language, executive functioning, and academic skills up to 16 years later. Conclusion: These findings suggest that early expressive language skills, as indexed by the CDI, are clinically relevant for identifying CI users who may be at high risk for long-term neurocognitive delays and disturbances.