Social and Behavioral Characteristics of Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

This study examined the social and behavioral characteristics of children with specific language impairment (SLI) as compared with a group of children with typically developing language skills (TL). The participants were 45 children (17 girls and 28 boys) with SLI and 53 children (27 girls and 26 boys) with TL. Maternal ratings of participants' social and behavioral characteristics were obtained using the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) and the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1995). Analyses of variance revealed differences between the two groups of children in all areas of social skills as well as in specific indices of internalizing behaviors, although no differences were observed for externalizing behavior. The prevalence of clinically significant difficulties was significantly high in the area of social skills but not for behavioral problems. Implications of the results are discussed.

Socio-emotional climate of storybook reading interactions for mothers and preschoolers with language impairment

“…Although it is impossible to make interpretations of causality given the descriptive nature of the current study, it should be noted that children with LI demonstrate a number of behaviors that may make it more difficult for their mothers to interact with them, including maternal reports of decreased self-control (McCabe & Meller, 2004) and limited social skills (Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999;Stanton-Chapman, Justice, Skibbe, & Grant, 2007). It is possible that mothers of children with LI found it more difficult to engage in synchronous interactions with their children and differences in emotional support may reflect mothers' frustration with behaviors that children demonstrated during the book reading activity.…”

Vocabulary Gain Among Children With Language Disorders: Contributions of Children’s Behavior Regulation and Emotionally Supportive Environments

“…Although receiving only limited attention in the speechlanguage literature to date, research findings have suggested that children with language disorders may exhibit problems in two areas of behavior regulation, namely attention (Redmond & Rice, 2002;Snowling, Bishop, Stothard, Chipcase, & Kaplan, 2006;Stanton-Chapman, Justice, Skibbe, & Grant, 2007;Tomblin, Zhang, Buckwalter, & Catts, 2000) and inhibitory control (Hart, Fujiki, Brinton, & Hart, 2004;McCabe & Meller, 2004;Spaulding, 2010;Stanton-Chapman et al, 2007). Spaulding (2010) compared the attention and inhibitory control of 22 preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI) and 22 typically developing preschoolers.…”

“…Studies in speech-language pathology suggest that children with language disorders are at substantial risk for deficits in aspects of behavior regulation (Bishop & Norbury, 2005;Spaulding, 2010;Stanton-Chapman et al, 2007) and vocabulary (McGregor, Newman, Reilly, & Capone, 2002;Leonard et al, 1982;Oetting, 1999). Research on at-risk and typically developing children indicates a strong association between these two constructs; however, no studies to date have investigated the role of behavior regulation on vocabulary gain for children with language disorders who are receiving language therapy in the public schools.…”

Early childhood education of children with specific language impairments

“…In a similar study, McCabe and Marshall (2006) reported that children's poor social skills do not disappear as they grow older, suggesting that the optimal time for identification and remediation is in the students' pre-school years, or even prior to this. Stanton-Chapman, Justice, Skibbe and Grant (2007) further supported this position arguing that students with SLI demonstrate difficulties in peer interactions and often withdraw and engage in fewer interactions. Similar to their peers student's with SLI demonstrated low levels of externalising behaviours and aggression although they scored lower in relation to language.…”

“…There is also debate over which skills need to be taught to students to ensure a successful transition and thus subsequent inclusion. Stanton-Chapman, Justice, Skibbe and Grant (2007) suggested that teachers rate language and social skills as a higher priority to success in school than academics. Similarly, Kemp and Carter (2005) found that mainstream teachers rated academic skills as the least important in determining success.…”