Withdrawn and Sociable Behavior of Children With Language Impairment

Abstract

This study examined the dimensions of withdrawal and sociability in children with language impairment (LI) and their typically developing chronological age-matched peers. Classroom teachers rated the withdrawn and sociable behaviors of 41 children with LI and 41 typically developing peers using the Teacher Behavioral Rating Scale (TBRS, Hart & Robinson, 1996). Children were sampled from the age ranges of 5 to 8 years and 10 to 13 years. Subtypes of both withdrawn (solitary-passive withdrawal, solitary-active withdrawal, reticence) and sociable (impulse control/likability, prosocial) behavior were examined. Teachers rated children with LI as displaying higher levels of reticent behavior than typically developing children. Teachers also rated boys with LI as displaying significantly higher levels of solitary-active withdrawal than girls with LI or typically developing children of either gender. The groups did not differ on solitary-passive withdrawal, although boys were rated higher than girls. In the dimension of sociable behavior, children with LI were rated significantly below typical peers on subtypes of impulse control/likability and prosocial behavior. The relationship between language impairment and withdrawn and sociable behavior is complex. Although language impairment is an important factor in social difficulty, the current results suggest that language impairment is not the sole factor leading to social problems in children with LI. Assessment and intervention procedures for children with language and social problems should take the complex nature of this relationship into account.

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

“…There are mixed findings in the literature with respect to the associations between prosocial behaviour and language ability with both younger and older samples of children (Barnett et al, 2012;Ensor & Hughes, 2005;Horwitz et al, 2003;Fujiki et al, 1999;Ketelaars et al, 2010;Rhee et al, 2013;Von Grunigen et al, 2012). The results of the current study are Prosocial Behaviour and Expressive Language 13 in line with previous studies that have found positive associations, direct and indirect, between language and prosocial behaviour in the early years of development (e.g., Ensor & Hughes, 2005;Rhee et al, 2013).…”

“…2004;Horwitz et al, 2003;Fujiki et al, 1999;Ketelaars et al, 2010;von Grunigen, Kochenderfer-Ladd, Perren, & Alsakar, 2012). While this is an important area of investigation, it fails to address how associations between language and prosocial behaviour would present in typically developing children.…”

“…Despite a few null findings (Barnett, Gustafsson, Deng, Mills-Koonce, & Cox, Prosocial Behaviour and Expressive Language 5 2012;Lindsay & Dockrell, 2000), two significant patterns of associations have been supported, namely between language difficulties and reduced engagement in prosocial behaviour (Horwitz et al, 2003;Fujiki et al, 1999;Ketelaars et al, 2010;von Grünigen, Kochenderfer-Ladd, Perren, & Alsakar, 2012) and language competence and increased prosocial behaviour (Ensor & Hughes, 2005;Rhee et al, 2013). While these findings both point to an association between language ability and social skills, these patterns of associations are quite different.…”

Social cognition and pragmatic competence. The case of children with specific language impairment

“…Por tanto, las oportunidades de estos sujetos para socializarse con sus iguales quedan restringidas por sus pobres aptitudes comunicativas, sobre las cuales no se interviene de forma sistemática, lo que puede llevar a que decrezca su participación social e incluso que sean rechazados por parte de sus iguales . Además, existe el peligro de que el desarrollo de su CS se vea retrasado (Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999). Análogamente, las habilidades pragmáticas están altamente relacionadas con el desarrollo de una CS competente.…”

Observation of Classroom Social Communication: Do Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Spend Their Time Differently Than Their Typically Developing Peers?

“…Considering the findings of these two studies, perhaps the CNS involvement related to alcohol exposure can be manifested in a variety of ways, one of which is neuropsychological deficits with concomitant social problems. For children with language-learning problems or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, studies suggest that their neurological impairments may contribute to problems in social interactions (Brinton & Fujiki, 1993;Bruce, Thernlund, & Nettelbladt, 2006;Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999;Redmond & Rice, 1998). Children with FASD may share this characteristic.…”