CHICAGO, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've determined immigrant children's verbal development varies based on race and ethnicity.
The scientists, from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan and Columbia University, also found immigrant groups, as a whole, make large gains over time, and that some groups are more likely to have problems than others.
The study determined that across racial/ethnic groups, immigrant children -- with the exception of black immigrant youngsters -- had significantly lower verbal scores on average than their respective non-immigrant peers, and that the lower scores were directly related to family income and the mother's level of education and age.
Yet the study showed most immigrant children made more individual progress over time in their verbal ability than non-immigrant children.
The researchers evaluated 2,136 immigrant and non-immigrant children from four racial/ethnic groups: white, black, Mexican and Puerto Rican. The children lived in 80 Chicago neighborhoods that differed by socioeconomic status and racial/ethnic composition and were followed as part of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.
The study's results are detailed in the September/October issue of the journal Child Development
