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NCT03977701

Manipulating Linguistic Complexity to Improve Child Language Treatment Outcomes

Completed NA Results posted Last updated 9 March 2023
What this trial tests

NA trial testing Phonological treatment in Language Development Disorders in 41 participants. Completed in 31 December 2021.

Timeline
1 June 2019
Primary endpoint
31 December 2021
31 December 2021

Quick facts

Lead sponsorSan Diego State University
PhaseNA
StatusCompleted
Study typeINTERVENTIONAL
Allocationnon randomized
Designparallel
Maskingsingle
Primary purposetreatment
Enrollment41
Start date1 June 2019
Primary completion31 December 2021
Estimated completion31 December 2021
Sites1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

Conditions studied

Sponsor

San Diego State University

Who can join

Adults 3 to 6, any sex, with Language Development Disorders or Speech Sound Disorder. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Results — posted to ClinicalTrials.gov

Per-arm endpoint measurements with 95% confidence intervals where reported. Source: trial results section.

Treatment Probe Accuracy Change Primary · Change in percentage of consonant or consonant cluster accuracy (depending on Arm/Group) from first treatment session to final treatment session; up to 6 weeks.

The Treatment Probe is made of the selected treatment stimuli (words) that are consistent with the child's assigned experimental condition, and evaluates production accuracy of the treatment target within the verb stimuli. The treatment targets in these words have a consonant singleton or consonant cluster ("tee" vs. "tree", "sees" vs. "seats"), and are mono- or bi-morphemic contexts ("tease" vs. "sees"). Children are asked to pronounce each word following presentation of a corresponding picture and a verbal prompt. The Treatment Probe allows us to track the effectiveness of treatment on the t

GroupValue95% CI
Mono-morphemic Cluster PD26± 36
Bi-morphemic Cluster PD23± 38
Generalization Probe Accuracy Change Primary · Change in percent consonant accuracy from baseline to immediately following final treatment session; up to 6 weeks.

The Generalization Probe consists of words and phrases that target each consonant, cluster, and morpho-syntactic constructs a minimum of 10 times across relevant contexts (i.e., word- and utterance-position). The Generalization Probe allows us to track the effects of treatment (generalization) to untreated stimuli and to monitor control variables by measuring production accuracy of stimuli. The Generalization Probe samples each consonant and consonant cluster of the target language across multiple words and contexts. Children are asked to pronounce each word following presentation of a corresp

GroupValue95% CI
Mono-morphemic Cluster PD2± 7
Bi-morphemic Cluster PD1± 5

Sponsor's own description

Phonological disorder (PD) and specific language impairment (SLI) directly impact a child's ability to communicate and are among the most prevalent developmental disorders. The proposed experiments manipulate the complexity of treatment targets to identify the most efficacious treatment approaches for English- and Spanish-speaking children aged 3 to 6 years who present with these disorders. This research will reveal the nature of interactions between sound and structure in language for these children and will have significant implications for a unique approach to target selection when treating persistent phonological and grammatical difficulties in children with PD, SLI, or both.

Publications & conference data

4 peer-reviewed publications reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

  1. Phonological complexity in intervention for Spanish-speaking children with speech sound disorder.
    Combiths P, Pruitt-Lord S, Escobedo A, Barlow JA. · · 2022 · cited 6× · PMID 34112044 · DOI 10.1080/02699206.2021.1936186
  2. Complexity and cross-linguistic transfer in intervention for Spanish-English bilingual children with speech sound disorder.
    Combiths P, Escobedo A, Barlow JA, Pruitt-Lord S. · · 2022 · cited 3× · PMID 37035425 · DOI 10.1558/jmbs.23445
  3. Word-final complexity in speech sound intervention: two case studies.
    Potapova I, Combiths P, Pruitt-Lord S, Barlow J. · · 2023 · cited 3× · PMID 36121007 · DOI 10.1080/02699206.2022.2122082
  4. Extending Complexity to Word-Final Position via Telepractice: Intervention Effects for English-Speaking Children With Speech Sound Disorder.
    Potapova I, John A, Pruitt-Lord S, Barlow J. · · 2025 · PMID 39496072 · DOI 10.1044/2024_lshss-24-00020

Verify or expand the search:

Other recruiting trials for Language Development Disorders

Currently open trials in the same condition.

Other San Diego State University trials

Trials by the same sponsor.

Verify against primary sources

Data sources for this page

Drug Landscape aggregates and links these public records for informational use only. Always verify against the primary source before clinical or regulatory decisions. Canonical URL: https://druglandscape.com/trial/NCT03977701.

Primary sources · FDA · ClinicalTrials.gov · EMA · SEC EDGAR · ChEMBL · Wikidata · full sourcing