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Acoustic Measures of Word-Level Prosody in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Initial Validation Study.

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Title: Acoustic Measures of Word-Level Prosody in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Initial Validation Study.
Authors: Littlejohn, Meghan1 meghan.littlejohn@temple.edu, Maas, Edwin1
Source: American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2025 Supplement, Vol. 34, p2485-2508. 24p.
Subject Terms: *Phonological awareness, *Teaching aids, *Retrospective studies, *Speech evaluation, *Research methodology, *Evaluation, Multitrait multimethod techniques, Research funding, Research evaluation, Severity of illness index, Age distribution, Descriptive statistics, Physiological aspects of speech, Medical records, Acquisition of data, Intraclass correlation, Speech apraxia
Abstract: Background: The "gold standard" of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) diag- nosis is expert clinical judgment based on perception of core features: inconsistent errors, impaired transitions, and impaired prosody. However, this standard has several limitations, which may be addressed with acoustic measures. Purpose: This retrospective study aims to provide initial validity evidence for nine acoustic measures of prosody and examine lexical stress production in CAS. Method: The study involves 33 children with CAS (4--8 years) imitating six bisyllabic words (three strong--weak, three weak--strong). For each word, nine acoustic measures of prosody were obtained: three pairwise variability index measures, two lexical stress ratio measures and their three component ratios, and word syllable duration. To address construct validity, we examined effects of stress pattern, age, and severity. To address convergent validity, we correlated acoustic measures with each other and with clinical-perceptual judgments of prosody. Finally, we examined the degree to which children with CAS differentiated stressed and unstressed syllables. Results: Findings revealed that acoustic measures differed between stress patterns. Six of the measures had moderate and significant correlations with CAS severity for strong--weak words but not weak--strong words, and none of the measures correlated with age. All acoustic measures showed moderate or strong correlations with each other for strong--weak words but only some did for weak--strong words. None of the measures correlated significantly with clinical-perceptual measures of prosody. Children demonstrated equal stress on most measures for strong--weak words but clear evidence of stress differentiation for weak--strong words. Conclusions: This study provides qualified initial support for the validity of all acoustic measures. Findings replicate and extend prior research to show that children with CAS may have difficulty with production of lexical stress. Prospective research is needed to control for stimulus features with a larger sample that includes a range of diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Acoustic Measures of Word-Level Prosody in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Initial Validation Study.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Littlejohn%2C+Meghan%22">Littlejohn, Meghan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> meghan.littlejohn@temple.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Maas%2C+Edwin%22">Maas, Edwin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22American+Journal+of+Speech-Language+Pathology%22">American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology</searchLink>. 2025 Supplement, Vol. 34, p2485-2508. 24p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Phonological+awareness%22">Phonological awareness</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+aids%22">Teaching aids</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Retrospective+studies%22">Retrospective studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+evaluation%22">Speech evaluation</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+methodology%22">Research methodology</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Evaluation%22">Evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multitrait+multimethod+techniques%22">Multitrait multimethod techniques</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+evaluation%22">Research evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Severity+of+illness+index%22">Severity of illness index</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Age+distribution%22">Age distribution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Physiological+aspects+of+speech%22">Physiological aspects of speech</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Medical+records%22">Medical records</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Acquisition+of+data%22">Acquisition of data</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intraclass+correlation%22">Intraclass correlation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+apraxia%22">Speech apraxia</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Background: The "gold standard" of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) diag- nosis is expert clinical judgment based on perception of core features: inconsistent errors, impaired transitions, and impaired prosody. However, this standard has several limitations, which may be addressed with acoustic measures. Purpose: This retrospective study aims to provide initial validity evidence for nine acoustic measures of prosody and examine lexical stress production in CAS. Method: The study involves 33 children with CAS (4--8 years) imitating six bisyllabic words (three strong--weak, three weak--strong). For each word, nine acoustic measures of prosody were obtained: three pairwise variability index measures, two lexical stress ratio measures and their three component ratios, and word syllable duration. To address construct validity, we examined effects of stress pattern, age, and severity. To address convergent validity, we correlated acoustic measures with each other and with clinical-perceptual judgments of prosody. Finally, we examined the degree to which children with CAS differentiated stressed and unstressed syllables. Results: Findings revealed that acoustic measures differed between stress patterns. Six of the measures had moderate and significant correlations with CAS severity for strong--weak words but not weak--strong words, and none of the measures correlated with age. All acoustic measures showed moderate or strong correlations with each other for strong--weak words but only some did for weak--strong words. None of the measures correlated significantly with clinical-perceptual measures of prosody. Children demonstrated equal stress on most measures for strong--weak words but clear evidence of stress differentiation for weak--strong words. Conclusions: This study provides qualified initial support for the validity of all acoustic measures. Findings replicate and extend prior research to show that children with CAS may have difficulty with production of lexical stress. Prospective research is needed to control for stimulus features with a larger sample that includes a range of diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_AJSLP-24-00260
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 24
        StartPage: 2485
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Phonological awareness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teaching aids
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Retrospective studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Multitrait multimethod techniques
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Severity of illness index
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Age distribution
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Physiological aspects of speech
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical records
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Acquisition of data
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intraclass correlation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Speech apraxia
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Acoustic Measures of Word-Level Prosody in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Initial Validation Study.
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            NameFull: Littlejohn, Meghan
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            NameFull: Maas, Edwin
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              M: 07
              Text: 2025 Supplement
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              Y: 2025
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