RUNNING HEAD: Communication and Self-regulatory Skills 2 ABSTRACT Purpose: The study aimed at gaining understanding on the associations of different types of early language and communication profiles with later self-regulation skills utilizing longitudinal data from toddler-age to kindergarten-age.Method: Children with early language profiles representing expressive delay, broad delay (i.e., expressive, social, and/or symbolic), and typical language development were compared in domains of kindergarten-age executive and regulative skills (attentional/executive functions, regulation of emotions and behavioral activity, and social skills) assessed with parental questionnaires.Results: Children with delay in toddler-age language development demonstrated poorer kindergarten-age self-regulation skills than children with typical early language development.Broad early language delays were associated with compromised social skills and attentional/executive functions, and early expressive delays were associated with a generally lower level of kindergarten-age executive and regulative skills. Regression analyses showed that both earlier and concurrent language had an effect especially on the attentional/executive functions. Conclusions:The findings suggest that different aspects of toddler-age language have differential associations with later self-regulation. Possible mechanisms linking early language development to later self-regulative development are discussed.Keywords: prelinguistic communication and language, early language delay, self-regulation RUNNING HEAD: Communication and Self-regulatory Skills 3 Associations between Toddler-age Communication and Kindergarten-age Self-regulatory Skills A range of self-regulatory skills, such asattentional/executive regulation and regulation of behavior, emotions, and social interchanges, are needed for competent functioning in the home, school, and social community (see Bronson, 2000). Weaknesses in these skills have been associated with negative outcomes in a range of domains such as social adjustment (for a review, see Vohs & Ciarocco, 2004) and academic success (Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997, 2007. The maturation of self-regulation is influenced by the emergence of early cognitive skills including attention (e.g., Posner & Rothbart, 2000), representative memory, and inhibition (Barkley, 1997(Barkley, , 2021Wolfe & Bell, 2007). An additional domain of specific interest is language, which is assumed to pave the way for the development of regulatory skills by providing the psychological tools needed to gain mastery over behavior and cognition (see Kopp, 1982;Vygotsky, 1962). Although documentation of behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties (e.g., Lindsay, Dockrell, & Srand, 2007; St Clair, Pickles, Durkin, & Conti-Ramsden, 2011), and attentional or executive deficits (e.g., Henry, Messer, & Nash, 2012) among children with language impairments attest to the association between language and self-regulatory development, understanding of the developmental mechanisms behind this ...

The results support the potential of early screening in identifying children at risk of developing language difficulties, particularly when screening includes repeated surveillance of more than one area of communication skills.

Purpose This longitudinal study examined the development of prelinguistic skills and the continuity of communication and language from the prelinguistic stage to school age. Method Prelinguistic communication of 427 Finnish children was followed repeatedly from 6 to 18 months of age ( n = 203–322 at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 months), and its associations with language ability at ages 2;0 ( n = 104), 3;0 ( n = 112), 4;7 ( n = 253), 5;3 ( n = 102), and 7;9 ( n = 236) were examined using latent growth curve modeling. Results Prelinguistic development across several skills emerged as a rather stable intraindividual characteristic during the first 2 years of life. Continuity from prelinguistic development to later language ability was indicated. The common level and growth of prelinguistic skills were significant predictors of language ability between ages 2;0 (years;months) and 7;9; the percentage explained varied between 10.5% and 53.3%. A slow pace of development across multiple skills, in particular, led to weaker language skills. Conclusions The results support (a) the idea of a developmental continuum from prelinguistic to linguistic ability and (b) the dimensional view of language ability by indicating that individual variations in early communication skills show consistency that extends beyond the toddler years. Our results also advocate developmental surveillance of early communication by emphasizing the significance of growth in predicting language development.