Children's language and behavioural, social and emotional difficulties and prosocial behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry

Abstract

The ability of young children to manage their emotions and behaviours is an important prerequisite for social adjustment and school readiness. With an increase in early-onset behavioural difficulties in children, understanding changes in child behaviour during the preschool years and the factors that influence it is a priority for policy and practice. Despite much evidence on the association between language and behavioural difficulties in children, few studies have examined longitudinally language and problem / prosocial behaviour in early years.Using a UK community-based sample, this study examined the association between language, gender and behavioural, social and emotional difficulties and prosocial behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry. The findings showed a moderate decline in behavioural and social difficulties during preschool, and stability in emotional difficulties. Moderate associations were found between vocabulary and problem behaviour but not prosocial behaviour, with literacy-based language emerging as a substantive predictor of teacher-rated behaviour. These findings have important implications for early years provision.Keywords: prosocial behaviour, language, behavioural difficulties, early years 2 Children's language and behavioural, social and emotional difficulties and prosocial behaviour during the toddler years and at school entry

Children’s social behaviour, language and literacy in early years

“…This is comparable with previous research in which primary school children with language difficulties did not differ from same-age typically developing peers on parent ratings of prosocial behaviour (Farmer, 2000). Also, for 3-5 years olds, the link between parentrated prosocial and vocabulary was found to be weak (Hartas, 2011). For teachers, perceptions of prosocial behaviour appear to be influenced by children's expressive and receptive language and performance in literacy, whereas parents are likely to be influenced by not only language but also children's capacity to regulate emotions and relate socially to others considering that social competence involves not only linguistic but also affective, social and cognitive components.…”

“…Moderate-to-large group differences were found for social and behavioural difficulties (hyperactivity and total difficulties in particular) and modest for emotional difficulties, indicating that children's language and literacy were likely to influence parents' and teachers' ratings of behaviour difficulties more so than ratings of emotional difficulties. Consistently, in a recent study by Hartas (2011), 3 and 5 year olds' vocabulary was found to exert a modest effect on parent ratings of social and behavioural difficulties and a weak effect on emotional difficulties. A differential effect on parent and teacher ratings of prosocial behaviour was also found.…”

“…As with previous research (eg, Lindsay et al, 2007;Hartas, 2011), the consistency between teacher and parent ratings of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and prosocial behaviour was found to vary: higher for social and behavioural difficulties, hyperactivity in particular, and lower for emotional symptoms and prosocial behaviour. Parents and teachers tended to agree more on externalising behavioural difficulties, such as hyperactivity, than did for emotional difficulties and prosocial behaviour, pointing to context specificity for the latter behaviours.…”

“…Compared with 3 and 5 year olds' behaviour and language (Hartas, 2011), for 7 year olds, moderate-to -strong language differences in parent and teacher ratings of social and behavioural difficulties and strong effects in teacher only ratings of prosocial behaviour showed that the association between language and behaviour becomes stronger for older, primary school children. As children go through primary school, language becomes increasingly important for behaviour regulation and peer interactions, as well as for the display of empathy and social relatedness.…”

“…Moreover, teachers tend to rate higher behaviours (eg, hyperactivity) that interfere with aspects of children's learning and language/ literacy development (Hartas, 2011), suggesting that their perception about children's social behaviour may be influenced by their linguistic and academic performance in class. Also, the extent to which behaviour is visible plays an important role in its rating: compared to hyperactivity, emotional difficulties such as anxiety or phobias are less visible in class and perhaps less likely to be registered.…”