The contribution of early language development to children's emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years: an analysis of data from the Children in Focus sample from the ALSPAC birth cohort

Abstract

Background An association between children's early language development and their emotional and behavioural functioning is reported in the literature. The nature of the association remains unclear and it has not been established if such an association is found in a population‐based cohort in addition to clinical populations. Methods This study examines the reported association between language development and emotional and behavioural functioning in a population‐based cohort. Data from 1,314 children in the Children in Focus (CiF) sample from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analysed. Regression models identified the extent to which early language ability at 2 years of age and later language ability at 4 years of age is associated with emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years while accounting for biological and social risk and adjusting for age and performance intelligence (PIQ). Results A series of univariable and multivariable analyses identified a strong influence of biological risk, social risk and early and later language ability to emotional and behavioural functioning. Interestingly, social risk dropped out of the multivariate analyses when age and PIQ were controlled for. Early expressive vocabulary at 2 years and receptive language at 4 years made a strong contribution to emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years in addition to biological risk. The final model accounted for 11.6% of the variance in emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years. Conclusions The study identified that early language ability at 2 years, specifically expressive vocabulary and later receptive language at 4 years both made a moderate, but important contribution to emotional and behavioural functioning at 6 years of age. Although children's language development is important in understanding children's emotional and behavioural functioning, the study shows that it is one of many developmental factors involved.

Vocabulary Development and Trajectories of Behavioral and Emotional Difficulties Via Academic Ability and Peer Problems

“…Children with early language problems have higher rates of behavioral and emotional difficulties later in childhood compared to other children (Beitchman et al., ; Tomblin, Zhang, Buckwalter, & Catts, ). The majority of the evidence has focused on clinical samples using clinical cut‐points, but evidence from the general population and in studies considering the full range of functioning have also found consistent associations (Bretherton et al., ; Clegg, Law, Rush, Peters, & Roulstone, ; Tomblin et al., ). Nevertheless, despite one in five children having problems in one or more of these development domains (Reilly et al., ), the association between language and subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties is poorly understood.…”

“…We will test associations separately for the whole group of children, and then for children below the 50th percentile for vocabulary at age 4-5 years. Given research showing associations between vocabulary and behavioral and emotional problems in both clinical and population groups (Bretherton et al, 2014;Clegg et al, 2015;Tomblin et al, 2000), we expected associations to be consistent for the whole sample compared to children in the lower 50th percentile for language at 4-5 years.…”

Examining the association between language, expository discourse and offending behaviour: an investigation of direction, strength and independence

“…), educational attendance (HM Government and Ministry of Justice ) and non‐verbal intelligence (IQ) (Clegg et al . ).…”

“…A retrospective analysis of cohort data has identified non‐verbal IQ as a correlate of emotional and behavioural outcomes (Clegg et al . ) and non‐verbal IQ is still recognized as a correlate of language ability (Wetherell et al . ).…”

Trajectories of Development of Receptive Vocabulary in Individuals with Down Syndrome

“…Vocabulary knowledge is a foundational skill of meaning making and, in typically developing children, has been found to be predictive of both literal and inferential verbal comprehension (Silva & Cain, ), reading comprehension (Ouellette & Beers, ), and behavioral functioning (Clegg, Law, Rush, Peters, & Roulstone, ). Similar associations have been identified for individuals with Down syndrome (DS), with receptive vocabulary being a predictor of academic outcomes including spelling (Lim, Arciuli, Liow, & Munro, ) and reading (Laws & Gunn, ), and of social skills (Hippolyte, Iglesais, Van der Linden, & Barisnikov, ).…”