Early Language Impairment and Young Adult Delinquent and Aggressive Behavior

Abstract

Clinic and forensic studies have reported high rates of language impairments in conduct disordered and incarcerated youth. In community samples followed to early adolescence, speech and language impairments have been linked to attention deficits and internalizing problems, rather than conduct problems, delinquency, or aggression. This study examines the young adult antisocial outcomes of speech or language impaired children. Language impaired boys had higher levels of parent-rated delinquency symptoms by age 19 than boys without language impairment, controlled for verbal IQ and for demographic and family variables. Language impaired boys did not differ from controls in self-reported delinquency or aggression symptoms on a standardized checklist; however, language impaired boys reported higher rates of arrests and convictions than controls. Language impairment was not related to aggression or delinquency in girls. We examine alternate models of the interrelationships between language, academics, and behavior, at ages 5, 12, and 19.

Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Functioning of Secondary School Students With Low Academic and Language Performance: Perspectives From Students, Teachers, and Parents

“…Recent studies, of social, emotional and behavioral functioning in adolescents with SLI, report that they are at greater risk of SEBD than their typically developing peers. These include lower self esteem (Lindsay & Dockrell, 2000;Wadman, Durkin & Conti-Ramsden, 2008), poorer peer relations and emotional engagement (Conti-Ramsden & Botting, 2004;Durkin & Conti-Ramsden, 2007;Lindsay et al, 2007;Wadman, Durkin & Conti-Ramsden, 2011), inferior friendship quality (Durkin & ContiRamsden, 2007), higher rates of bullying (Knox & Conti-Ramsden, 2003;Savage, 2005), a higher incidence of attention disorders and hyperactivity (Beitchman et al, 1996), greater anxiety and depression (Beitchman et al, 2001;, more substance abuse (Beitchman et al, 1999) and increased aggressive behavior (Brownlie et al, 2004).…”

Expressive language and prosocial behaviour in early childhood: Longitudinal associations in the UK Millennium Cohort Study

“…The direction of associations during this time are of specific interest as both language and behavioural development (difficulties and competencies) are important markers of how children will adjust to preschool and formal schooling settings. Until recently, an important focus in the literature has been on the associations between language ability and behavioural difficulties (e.g., conduct and peer problems) and a well-established link from deficits in language acquisition and/or communication problems to future behavioural difficulties in middle childhood and adolescence has been demonstrated (e.g., Brownlie et al 2004;Menting, van Lier & Koot 2011). However, from late toddlerhood up to age five, a recent study suggested modest bi-directional rather than unidirectional paths of associations between behavioural difficulties (i.e., conduct problems) and expressive language in particular (Girard, Pingault, Doyle, Falissard, & Tremblay, 2015).…”

“…With respect to child factors, cognitive development has consistently been found to be positively associated with both prosocial behaviour and language ability (Brownlie et al, 2004;Carlo, Knight, Eisenberg, & Rotenberg, 1991;Yagmurlu, 2013). Boys have been found to engage in less frequent prosocial behaviour (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 1998) and sex differences for language ability, while mixed, have also been identified (e.g., Eriksson et al, 2011).…”

School readiness among children with behavior problems at entrance into kindergarten: results from a US national study

“…In addition we found that children who have behavior problems come to school delayed in multiple areas. Delays in speech and language, in addition to behavior problems, are of particular concern since early language and speech impairment is associated with higher rates of anxiety disorders, delinquency, arrests, and convictions in well-controlled longitudinal studies that followed young children into adulthood [1,2].…”