Closed Projects
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Speak up! A longitudinal study of language development, literacy and mathematics difficulties in children
The main study is still ongoing, and in the phase of data analyses and writing.
Follow-up study: We wish to see how the children who were originally included in the project in 2003 are doing now. Out of a sample of 120, 109 agreed to participate in the project. The children are now 15, and about to enter upper secondary school. Using questionnaires, we would like to collect information about how they are doing, primarily as regards reading, writing and mathematics skills. We would also like to know if they have received any kind of assistance from either the school or the local pedagogical services. Moreover, the study aims to investigate dyslexia from a developmental perspective, and to see how it impacts the lives of a group of young people. Finally, the study will assess whether the dyslexia benchmarks that were identified at age 5 are still characteristic of the groups “at-risk” vs. “control” at 5 years, and “dyslexia” vs. “typical” at 11 years.
Head of Project:Professor Turid Helland, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen
Hedda Døli
(PhD project 2013 – 2022)
Aphasia after stroke, from admission to one-year post-stroke. Lesion location, lesion size, and self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Supervisors: Wenche A. Helland, Karsten Specht, Turid Helland and Halvor Næss
Assessment of the language of 5-year olds
The mass media often report that pupils with special needs do not receive the required assistance in school, or that help is provided so late that secondary issues like aggression or withdrawal have already developed. The children in question often have some variety of language disorders.
This study aims to gather knowledge about what factors affect a child’s ability to learn reading, writing and mathematics, and to take part in positive interaction with adults or other children. More knowledge about the linguistic competence of pre-school children is necessary in order to facilitate appropriate interventions for those who show signs of impaired language development and function, and in order to provide qualified assistance as early as possible. Recent research shows that it is possible to detect signs of future obstacles already in pre-school. This is why we advocate broad language assessment of children who are about to enter formal schooling.
Project group: Professor Turid Helland, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of BergenAssistant professor Lise Øen Jones, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of BergenResearcher Wenche Andersen Helland, Ph.D., Helse Fonna/Statped vest/Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen
Tell-a-tale – a study of the language of 3rd graders
For those speech and language pathologists who work mainly in schools, increased knowledge of the linguistic competence of school children is vital. This study aimed to augment the knowledge we have about the language capacity of Norwegian 3rd graders by assessing which factors may affect how children construct oral and written narratives. We looked especially at the factors language comprehension, memory, vocabulary, language production and communicative skills. The 3rd grade was chosen because we were especially interested in children who had recently gained functional literacy skills.
Project group: Associate professor Janne von Koss TorkildsenProfessor Turid Helland, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of BergenResearcher Wenche Andersen Helland, Ph.D., Helse Fonna/Statped vest/Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of BergenPh.D. Candidate Frøydis Morken, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen
Validation of Norwegian CDI III
The purpose of this study is to validate a new parent report for language development in children between 3 and 4 years of age: the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories -CDI III. Professor Hanne Gram Simonsen and Professor Kristian Emil Kristoffersen have developed a pilot version of the Norwegian CDI III. In the present study we will investigate to what degree results on the pilot version corresponds to behavioral language tests. Both bilingual and monolingual children will participate in the study. The project is part of an international collaboration lead by researchers at the University of Southern Denmark.
Project group: Associate Professor Janne von Koss TorkildsenProfessor Hanne Gram Simonsen, University of OsloPost-doc Magnhild, Selås, University of Bergen
Language impairment in preterm children.
This study aims to investigate a possible correlation between premature birth (gestational age 34-36 weeks) and language impairment in four year old children.
Project group:Associate professor Wenche Andersen HellandMasterstudents Anne Straume and Hilde Kristine Ohr
Investigating communication in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, children with specific language impairment and children with autism spectrum disorder.
Language and communicative competence play an important role in children’s emotional and behavior functioning and children with unidentified language impairment are at risk of developing behavior problems, which are often more salient and overshadowing the communication problems. This study aims to gather more knowledge about the overlap between different developmental psychopathological conditions and language impairment both in clinical and in epidemiological samples, in order to facilitate appropriate interventions if communication problems are identified. Data from the present study is derived from the Bergen Child Study; an ongoing population-based study of development and mental health in children attending second to fourth grade in the city of Bergen, Norway in October 2002.
Head of project: Associate professor II / researcher Wenche Andersen Helland, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen/ Helse Fonna/ Statped Vest
Frøydis Morken
(PhD project 2011-2016)
Language processing in dyslexia - Longitudinal aspects of literacy, neurocognition and functional brain imaging in a group of children from the age of five to the age of eleven. Part of the Bergen Longitudinal Dyslexia Study (Speak up!).
Supervisors: Turid Helland and Karsten Specht
Magnhild Selås
Dr. art. 2004, Post-doc project 2012-2016
Deviant linguistic development in Noonan syndrome
Wenche A. Helland
(PhD project)
Communication difficulties in children identified with psychiatric problems
Several studies have pointed to an overlap between different developmental psychopathological conditions and language impairments, and difficulties with communication have been identified in children of various diagnostic backgrounds. This thesis is based on three empirical studies, and the purposes are to investigate communication difficulties as reported by parents, in children identified with psychiatric problems as well as to evaluate a Norwegian adaptation of the Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC) and the Children’s Communication Checklist Second Edition (CCC-2), assessment tools, sensitive to various aspects of language.
The first study showed that pragmatic language impairments were more prevalent in a group of children referred to child psychiatric services than in a comparison group of typically developing children (57 % versus 10 %). The second study showed that the Norwegian adaptation of the CCC-2 distinguished language impaired from non-language impaired children, and thus seems to be useful as assessment tool for communication difficulties in Norwegian children. The third study found that communication difficulties were as common in a group of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) as in a group of children with Asperger syndrome (AS). Although almost identical patterns appeared on most CCC-2 scales, children with AD/HD and children with AS differed in terms of their language profiles on the subscales assessing stereotyped language and nonverbal communication. The results of the present thesis indicate that a majority of children identified with psychiatric problems exhibit communication difficulties. The impact of communication functioning on therapeutic outcomes underline the importance of systematic examination of communication to be performed as part of the assessment procedure.
Head of project: Associate professor II / researcher Wenche Andersen Helland, Department of Medical and Biological Psychology, University of Bergen/ Helse Fonna/ Statped Vest