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Comparisons of children with delayed and normal language at 24 months of age on measures of behavioral difficulties, social and cognitive development
Author(s) -
Carson David K.,
Klee Thomas,
Perry Cecyle K.,
Muskina Gail,
Donaghy Tracy
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0355(199821)19:1<59::aid-imhj4>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - cognition , psychology , developmental psychology , language development , cognitive development , cognitive psychology , audiology , medicine , neuroscience
This investigation compared a group of expressive language‐delayed children with language‐normal children of the same age ( M = 25.7 months; SD = 0.8 months) on various measures of development and behavioral difficulties. Data were obtained through language sampling, direct developmental assessment, and maternal reports of children's development and behavior. Scores on measures of social and cognitive development for children with language delay were found to be significantly lower than normals. Further, maternal reports indicated that these children displayed significantly more behavioral difficulties overall than did the language‐normal children. Specifically, the language‐delayed children exhibited more symptoms of anxiety and depression, withdrawal, sleep problems, and other behavioral disturbances. In addition, children evaluated as expressive language delayed scored significantly lower on measures of receptive language, maternal ratings of communicative competency, and other indices of language proficiency. The results point to the centrality of expressive and receptive language development in relation to early‐appearing behavior problems and other developmental milestones. With these findings in mind, early language intervention may not only promote language development, but also prevent the development or exacerbation of socioemotional problems. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health