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Language impairment in Swedish bilingual children: a comparison between bilingual and monolingual children in Malmö
Author(s) -
Salameh EK,
Nettelbladt U,
Håkansson G,
Gullberg B
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2002.tb01700.x
Subject(s) - medicine , language impairment , attendance , pediatrics , distress , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychology , economics , economic growth
In this study two groups of children were compared, 192 bilingual and 246 monolingual, referred over a 12‐mo period to University Hospital in Malmo for suspected language impairment. Compared with monolingual children, bilingual children ran a significantly lower risk (RR = 0.76, p < 0.0001) of being referred by a child health centre, and a significantly higher risk (RR = 1.54, p < 0.0103) of being referred after 5 y of age. In the bilingual group there was also a significantly higher risk of parental refusal of assessment (RR = 2.35, p <0.0016) and of the children being diagnosed with a severe language impairment (RR=1.87, p <0.0009). The risk for bilingual children with severe language impairment being discharged owing to non‐attendance was high (RR = 6.20, p < 0.0002) compared to monolingual children. The risk increased with severity of language impairment. Conclusion : Bilingual children displayed a higher risk of a diagnosis of severe language impairment and of being discharged for non‐attendance. The problem of low compliance among bilingual parents, despite strong indications of parental distress, must be addressed.